


Eleven Ways to Fuck Up a First Impression

by EmilyBeauchene



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe- Apartments, Blow Jobs, Character in drag, Drag Clubs, Drag Queens, Drag Shows, Drug Use, Drugs, Eventual Sex, M/M, More Blow Jobs, Riding, Slushies, Stripper!Michael, Strippers & Strip Clubs, Trans Character, mtf!Jack, stripper!Ray, things are finally happening in this story, trans girl! Jack
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-29
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-03-20 07:05:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 27,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3641205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmilyBeauchene/pseuds/EmilyBeauchene
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a messy break-up, Ryan Haywood the IT guy is just looking for somewhere quiet and peaceful to live. After a wild night he hoped only to forget, he finds that life at the Rooster Teeth Apartments is far less quiet than he had hoped it would be. But how could life be quiet with his neighbors? The alcoholic superintendent slash draq queen covered in tattoos and his wife who pilots jets in her spare time, a piss-poor foreign journalist with his 'exotic dancer' boyfriend, the broke animators who live above him, two girls who run a strip club, the guys who scream at horror games too much, and the strange shut-in who listens to bad 90s music at 2 AM.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As the story progresses more characters and pairings will be added, make sure to check the tags each update and you'll know what's in store for the chapter!

"Alright, just fill this paper out," Geoff said. He'd very briefly introduced himself to Ryan, at first he didn't hear the tattooed landlord's name at all.

Ryan took the paper he'd been passed, and grabbed a pen from a cup filled with rice on Geoff's desk. It wasn't much of a desk at all though, piled feet high with papers and files, Ryan had no idea how he was able to keep anything orderly in this mess.

The application sheet was fairly basic, the usual information that he had scrawled out more times than he cared in the past few months. Searching for an apartment that was decent turned out to be a lot harder than he had ever thought in the first place. He had to find somewhere that was cheap, but where he wouldn't get stabbed for the watch on his wrist, and hopefully with normal people to live among.

Ryan had yet to see any of the residents around the complex on the short tour he'd been given, but the price and the room appealed to him perfectly.

He glanced up at Geoff, who was nursing a bottle of whiskey or maybe bourbon, Ryan couldn't tell. Was he really drinking on the job? That certainly made Ryan just a bit nervous, but it wasn't enough to deter him. Geoff was the superintendent of the whole complex, and apparently, from what Ryan had gathered, had been the one to get the buildings up in the first place.

Geoff caught his eye and raised an eyebrow as he took a long swig. "Done with that yet?" he asked.

Ryan gulped and looked back down at the paper. He was practically the same age as Geoff, but he felt so intimidated. It was as though he was in high school all over again, and he turned his eyes back to the paper in front of him.

"Geoff!" an angry voice shouted, startling Ryan out of his focus.

A college-aged boy with fiery red hair stormed into the office, as though he'd never heard of knocking before. He didn't even look at Ryan, his intention dead set on Geoff.

"What is it, baby?" Geoff groaned, running a hand through his short, dark hair. Was this boy Geoff's son? He looked too old, but then again, Ryan didn't know how old he was, truly.

"Gavin broke the fucking internet somehow," the boy snapped. He crossed his arms and threw his hip out to one side. He was the embodiment of fury, and Ryan hoped to never cross paths with him if he got to live at this place.

"Are you sure it was him, Michael?" Geoff asked.

"Who else could have shut down the internet?" Michael shot back with an annoyed puff of air through his nose.

Ryan awkwardly continued to fill out his application, keeping his eyes down. It was hard not to listen in, though, and across the table from him, Geoff tipped the bottle of alcohol in acknowledgment of Michael's point.

"Fix it in a moment, babe," Geoff said. "Just gotta get this guy all filled out for an application."

"What?" Michael finally looked at Ryan. "Oh. Oh hey," Michael said, giving Ryan a short glance. He looked away, and then a second later he looked back at Ryan, eyes wide.

Ryan looked up at him from the application, offering a nervous smile. "Hey," he said. Michael was giving him an unnerving look, a wicked grin stretching his lips, and a devilish light in his eyes. "Um..." Ryan mumbled, wondering if he was supposed to be saying anything.

"I gotta get Ray," Michael said under his breath, still watching Ryan with a glint in his eyes. He turned a smile as sweet as cotton candy to Geoff, the look he was giving Ryan vanishing into thin air. "Thanks, Daddy." He threw Ryan a sidelong glance and then left the way he came, breaking into a run as soon as he was out of the door.

When Ryan looked over at Geoff, his expression perfectly showed Ryan that he was experiencing the same sort of confusion. Both of his eyebrows were raised, and under his very impressive mustache his lip was cured a bit.

"That kid's a fucking mystery," Geoff muttered.

"Is he your son?" Ryan asked. It wouldn't hurt to know.

"Oh, geez, God no. He's a tenant, if that kid were my kid I don't think I would survive a day." Geoff rubbed at his face with his free hand, groaning. "I've got to go see what Gavin did, I'll be back in a bit."

"I can fix it," Ryan said, without even thinking about it. Geoff gave him a curious stare. "I've worked at plenty of electronics stores and higher-end IT companies," he continued, offering an explanation.

Geoff stood up slowly after a long silence, gesturing for Ryan to follow. Ryan got up and dutifully trailed after Geoff's lazy pace towards the apartments that Michael had taken off towards. To Ryan it seemed as though everything Geoff did was at a lazy, slow pace, as though he had all the time in the world.

They scaled a small flight of stairs and then Geoff lead them through an open door into a cramped, and messy, two-bedroom apartment.

"Michael and Gavin's place," Geoff explained. He pointed towards the kitchen counter. "The router is there."

Ryan nodded and walked in that direction, shuffling like a penguin to avoid all the trash thrown around the floor. Stacks of video games were everywhere, Ryan had to shove aside every Halo game in existence to get to the router.

"Oh, hey, Ray," Geoff said. Ryan didn't look up from what he was doing, checking for obvious things like if it had been somehow turned off. "What are you doing here?"

"Michael told me to check out the new guy," Ray, Ryan assumed, told Geoff. He cracked his gum loudly, making Ryan jump. "God he's twitchy," he mused.

"Michael scared him earlier, too," Geoff said.

Ray let out a short laugh of sorts, though it was more of a scoff.

Ryan pressed the power button on the router, and a second later it beeped to life. That was what all the fuss was over? He ran a hand through his hair and turned to face the small audience he'd gathered.

Michael was in the doorway leading outside, holding back snickers and giggles. Geoff was more towards the couch at this point, taking a long drink from the bottle he had brought with him.

Ryan's eyes locked onto Ray and he was certain that he had gone stark white. He was casually leaning against the wall, a large gum bubble blocking most of his face from Ryan, but there was no way he would be able to forget those features. When the bubble popped and Ray's eyes met Ryan's, a smirk like Ryan had never seen fell across the boy's features.

"Hey, Ryan," Ray said.

Ryan swallowed hard, glancing at Michael who was really struggling to keep in his laughter.

"What? You two know each other?" Geoff asked after he swallowed a mouthful of alcohol.

Ray cracked his gum again, just as loud as before. In the silence of the apartment, aside from Michael's laughter and Ryan's rushing blood, it sounded as though a shot gun had been fired. "Know" was an understatement if Ryan had ever heard one.

"How was the rest of your birthday?" Ray asked, crossing his arms.

Geoff gave Ryan an incredulous look from across the room, eyes wide. "Oh shit," he hissed. Michael's laughter tripled in volume, but Ryan couldn't break his eyes from Ray's. If possible, Ray's smirk grew as he blew another bubble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As for pairings that will appear later in the story: Jack/Geoff, Gavin/Michael, Michael/Ray, Gavin/Ray, Adam/Joel, Kerry/Miles, Lindsay/Barabara, however the main focus will be Ryan/Ray!
> 
> A big huge thank you to geofflesramsey.tumblr.com for thinking up this au! We shot ideas back and forth for a while and eventually I got to writing.


	2. Chapter 2

On a Wednesday morning, Ray really had nothing better to do with himself. He was enjoying an entire day off, his boss promised not to call him in or schedule him for that night, or the night after that. He had rent to pay, but Geoff wasn't a stickler about getting it on time. Ray didn't have much to worry about on a Wednesday morning when he didn't have work.

He crawled out of bed at 10 AM, a record for him, and stumbled out into the living room of his apartment. Between the 'living room' and his 'bedroom', there was only a five foot distance, and not even a wall. Ray booted up his XBox 360, put in some shitty stereotypical zombie-shooter game he had bought at GameStop for five dollars two days prior, and relaxed into his marathon-position on the couch.

Ray didn't move for two hours, and he would have stayed there for longer, if there weren't a sudden, and very frantic knocking on his front door.

"It's unlocked," he called, sitting up and pausing the game.

"Ray, you won't believe the news," Michael said, bursting into Ray's apartment.

The light that came streaming from the front door made Ray squint, furrowing his eyebrows against the hard brightness. Michael, on the other hand, seemed more offended by the darkness of Ray's apartment.

"Jesus Christ, did you even open your blinds today?" he asked, going over to Ray's windows.

"Please don't," Ray said, even though he already knew his fate was sealed.

Michael ripped open all of the curtains and blinds, and then shoved open the windows. Ray sat on his couch, eyes screwed shut and frowning. Michael went about the whole place, letting in the ridiculous Austin summer heat.

"Thanks for that," Ray growled, each syllable dripping with sarcasm.

"No problem, Ray," Michael said, ignoring the sarcasm coming from his friend. "It smells like weed in here, what if Geoff had come in for an inspection?"

"He'd probably ask for some," Ray muttered. He finally gained the courage to open his eyes, horrified that the light showed how absolutely disastrous his apartment looked.

"Maybe not Geoff, what if it was Burnie?" Michael tried.

Ray scoffed. "When was the last time you saw Burnie doing inspections? When was the last time you saw Geoff doing inspections?"

"Good point. Jesus Christ it's a mess in here," the other tenant mumbled. "When was the last time you cleaned?"

"Do you think I clean at all?" Ray asked.

"Another good point. But, c'mon, get up. I have something to show you."

"I was wondering when you would tell me what the fuck you're doing here," Ray said. He stretched his arms with a groan, sore from being in the same position for too long.

Michael flopped onto the couch next to Ray, pushing him roughly. "Get your ass up. This is something you'll actually enjoy leaving your apartment for."

"I don't know if I can trust you, Michael Jones. Last time you said that, it was just Gavin having a drunk fight with a brick wall. It ended up with him having a broken hand and you taking him to the hospital. Wasn't exactly a fun experience," Ray idly commented.

He stood anyways, though, and went back to his 'room'. Ray pulled on a clean pair of pants and some shirt that he just had lying around. He wasn't sure if it was dirty, but it didn't smell bad so he put it on anyways. A short trip to the bathroom to clean himself up and take a piss, then he was back with Michael.

Said nosy-neighbor had taken over the zombie game, and had already lost 4 of Ray's 5 lives. Michael paused the game and jumped up from the couch, avoiding old pizza boxes and soda cans that were just tossed aside.

"I don't understand how you don't have ants," Michael said as he grabbed Ray's hand. He dragged him outside of the apartment, heading towards the main building.

"I scare them off," Ray said. Really, he just had a good bottle of insecticide and he generously sprayed it whenever he needed to.

"I also don't understand how you keep your figure. You're a fucking stick with legs and yet you eat pizza and ice cream for every meal and you don't even drink diet soda," Michael said. He always got after Ray about his eating and exercise habits.

"I could be worse," Ray replied.

Michael dragged Ray into the main building, peering around the corner into Geoff's office. Geoff was no where to be seen. Michael gave up his stealthy approach, barging straight into Geoff's office.

"What the fuck? They were just here. I got you like five minutes ago," Michael muttered.

Ray didn't know if he wanted to ask what Michael was mumbling to himself about. He wandered into Geoff's office behind Michael, rooting through his drawers and desk. Geoff always had something interesting stashed in here. He grabbed a half-eaten chocolate bar and shoved it into his pocket, then grabbed a pack of gum and popped two of the pieces into his mouth.

"The internet!" he exclaimed, making Ray jump.

Michael turned a grin on Ray, grabbed his hand once more, and began dragging him off towards his and Gavin's apartment. He chewed on his gum as Michael guided him along, thinking about the things he had to do in the upcoming weekend. He was scheduled for Friday and Saturday night, the longest shifts he'd had in a month. Those were going to be torture.

"In there," Michael said in a whisper once they approached his apartment. He let go of Ray's hand, sniggering. "Check out the new guy with Geoff, I think you'll be surprised."

"Mhmm," Ray agreed. He honestly didn't care that much.

"Oh, hey, Ray," Geoff said. He was near the couch, one hand propped on the back of it, the other hand swirling a bottle of alcohol.

Ray nodded in his direction, walking forward at a slow pace until he was inside of the apartment. Some guy with a really nice butt was hunched over the router, trying to figure out what was 'wrong' with it.

"What are you doing here?" Geoff asked.

"Michael told me to check out the new guy," Ray explained. As he watched the new guy work, who honestly wasn't that interesting as far as Ray could tell, he cracked his gum. New Guy jumped. "God he's twitchy," he mused.

Ray leaned back against the wall with a sigh and crossed his arms. Surely Michael wouldn't want him to leave until he saw New Guy's face, that was probably what the whole fuss was about. Some ultra hot guy moves into the complex, of course Michael would want Ray to know.

"Michael scared him earlier, too," Geoff added in. Ray scoffed, what a weenie.

The router beeped to life, and New Guy straightened his back. He ran a hand through his wavy, sandy-blond hair, and turned around just as Ray began to blow a bubble with his gum. With only two pieces he was surprised at the size he was able to get it to, blocking out most of his vision. Back at the front door, Michael was starting to loose his shit. Clearly something was up. 

The bubble popped, and Ray's eyes caught New Guy's. He looked as white as a sheet, and Ray let a pleased smirk grow on his lips. Michael was such a little shit.

"Hey, Ryan," Ray said.

"What? You two know each other?" Geoff asked. 

Ray internally laughed at the question. Boy, he sure knew Ryan. His mind flashed back to that night, the sounds of other people and the loud, pounding music barely blocked out by the walls. He knew Ryan from top to bottom, each muscle and charming pocket of fat on him. Ray knew where to kiss and bite to make him moan; knew exactly where he'd left a hickey on the man that was definitely still visible. His imagination wandered towards dirtier things, the feeling of Ryan's cock down his throat, riding the older man until he couldn't think straight; they were all great thoughts. But Ryan was still standing in front of him, looking like a deer in the headlights.

If this was how Michael wanted to play it, then Ray would play along. He cracked his gum again, watching the color return to Ryan's face in the deepest shade of red that reminded Ray of the first night they met. 

"How was the rest of your birthday?" Ray asked. Michael's laughter suddenly grew so much louder, and Geoff's eyes flickered between Ray and Ryan, realization dawning on him.

"Oh shit," he hissed.

Ray's smirk only grew as he blew another bubble.

"Yeah, we, uh, we know each other," Ryan stumbled out. Ray resisted the urge to break into laughter alongside Michael and Geoff. Was 'know' now a synonym of 'fucked'?


	3. Chapter 3

The night before.

-x-

Ray sat backstage with Michael, taking his friend's red hair out of its curlers. He had naturally curly hair, more than a few of their coworkers were envious of him, but he preferred that when he worked they looked more uniform. In front of the curtains, a few of the newer workers ran over their routines again and again and again, restarting every time Lindsay called them out on something they'd done wrong.

"Keep your toes pointed, what is this, ballet for dummies?" Lindsay asked, her voice muffled through the thick curtains. Michael snorted.

"Those new kids are so fucked," he snickered.

Ray nodded as his way of response, continuing to gently pull curlers out of Michael's hair, applying hairspray and some sort of glitter-spray Michael adored. Ray wasn't exactly focused on work that night, Lindsay had given him the day off, but then called him in anyways. She wouldn't tell any of the new hires, but it was because she thought that none of them were really going to do well what with it being their first night on the floor or on stage.

"If any of them last a fucking week I would be surprised," Michael said, looking over his stage makeup. He grabbed a sponge to touch-up along his cheeks, but Ray smacked his hand away.

"You look fine, stop fidgeting," he said.

"I can't help it Ray," Michael snapped, giving Ray a glare through the mirror, to which Ray paid no mind. "You know who's going to be out there tonight."

"If he can get off his lazy ass to show up. Hasn't he said he would come to a show since you two first started dating?" Ray asked.

"This time he's going to fucking show or I'll cut his fucking balls off," Michael growled.

Ray rolled his eyes and thanked his lucky stars that he wasn't in a relationship. He couldn't tell if it was just Michael and Gavin, or if that was how every relationship worked. Either way, they were too much of a hassle when it came to this career. Ray couldn't be bothered with anything that would be even more work than his work.

Michael's phone went off, and he glanced at the message that was lighting up the screen. Ray couldn't read the name, but with the infinite amount of hearts and... were those the poop emojis? next to the contact, he could only assume who it was.

"Go get me a drink, Ray," Michael said, waving Ray off and batting his hands away. He had a grin stretching from ear to ear on his face. "Gavin's here and I want to show him around back."

"You should just text me when you're done sucking his dick," Ray responded casually. He knew what the two of them got up to when left alone for more than ten minutes. "Still want a drink?"

"Well, I'll need it, won't I?" Michael asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ray gave him a little nod. He headed towards the exit that lead out onto the floor, while Michael pranced off to the one that lead backstage. Ray shut the door behind him as he walked out into the main area of the club, walking around the tables and glancing over at the other 'dancers' on stage. Ray didn't care what he was called, but everybody else greatly preferred to be called anything but a stripper.

He stopped when he got to the bar, leaning against it and giving Barbara a little nod. "Hey," he said.

"How's it going?" she asked with her usual winning smile.

"Good enough, I guess. Distract me; Michael and his boyfriend are backstage and it's either I talk to you, watch Michael go down on my neighbor, or Lindsay forces me up on stage. What's the guest roster for tonight look like?" he asked, watching as Barbara did the very stereotypical bartender thing of wiping down the counters.

"Pretty typical, nothing exciting," Barbara said as she tossed aside the dirty rag in place of a clean one. "There's a big party reservation though."

Great. Those were Ray's favorites. "Reservation for what?"

"It's some guy's birthday," Barbara explained.

Ray couldn't help the roll of his eyes. He loved birthdays even more than just regular big groups. Sure, they tipped well, but they were also rude and obnoxious. The last birthday group that came through had been big enough to be heard over the music. That was a feat that was unheard of.

"And Lindsay wants you to take care of them," Barbara said. She didn't even jump around it like anybody else would have, knowing Ray's disdain for large groups of customers.

"Why not Michael?" he asked.

"Michael's on stage."

"I'll take the stage instead of working with a fucking birthday party," Ray grumbled. There was no way out of this. Maybe it was the whole reason why Lindsay had called him in the first place.

Ray glanced at the clock on the wall behind Barbara. There was only a half hour left before the floor opened. Everybody would pour backstage soon enough, and even Michael couldn't get a blowjob done in the time since Ray had left them.

"A scotch for Michael," Ray said to Barbara, watching her go about getting the glass and pouring the drink. "Just take it out of his paycheck."

"I was planning on it," Barbara agreed, giving Ray a grin. He gave a little smile in return, and then headed backstage once more.

Everything was just the way it had been, although Michael's dressing room door was cracked just slightly. The lights were on inside, and Ray could only imagine what was happening. He didn't really care though, and pushed the door open with his hip. Gavin had to finish before everybody else came backstage, Michael had to finish getting ready, and he was going to drink that damn scotch if Ray had to pour it down his throat.

Just as he had expected, Michael had Gavin pinned in the corner of his dressing room, down on his knees with his nose pressed against the dark, coarse hair at the base of his boyfriend's dick. Gavin's head was leaned back against the wall, and his hands were fists in Michael's red hair. He was practically fucking Michael's mouth, who had absolutely no objections, and took the abuse to the back of his throat casually and without any problem.

Gavin cracked an eye open at the sound of the opening door, and spotted Ray. Unlike any normal human being, Gavin didn't grow flustered or embarrassed. His cheeks were just as red as before, and instead of freaking out, he flashed a coy smile at Ray.

"Feel free to join in, X-Ray," he groaned out, voice strangled.

Ray watched the two of them for a moment more, and then set the scotch on Michael's vanity table. "We open in thirty," he said as he left and shut the door behind him.


	4. Chapter 4

"Knock knock," Michael said, tapping on Ray's dressing room door with his knuckles. He entered without waiting for a response, neither of them really felt the need to have boundaries. Ray had walked in on him giving a blowjob to his boyfriend just a few minutes before. He had the scotch in his hand, swirling it around and listening to the clinking ice.

Ray glanced up at Michael, finishing putting on his eyeliner. "That was fast," he said, voice nonchalant. His eyes returned to his mirror as he began to apply a thin layer of the black liner.

"What can I say? I'm good with my mouth," Michael said with a smirk. He walked over to Ray's side, resting his free hand on Ray's shoulder. "I heard you got the big group tonight."

Ray gave a little grunt of acknowledgement. Yes he had gotten the big group. "I got called in on my night off to take care of a big group. I'm going to faint from excitement," he deadpanned.

His reaction pulled a laugh from Michael, who offered his scotch to Ray. Ray turned it down, sitting back in the chair and letting out a long groan.

"I'm really not looking forward to this," he grumbled.

"C'mon, get up," Michael said, hauling Ray to his feet. He tipped back his scotch and swallowed it all in one go. He pressed his mouth to Ray's in a quick kiss, pulling away with a wide grin. "Good luck out there," he said.

"Don't ever kiss me again when you've just been sucking somebody's dick," Ray responded with a scowl. 

Michael laughed loudly, and then left Ray in peace to get changed into his outfit. Ray, as he was only in charge of one group, really didn't have to hit the floor until they showed up. He padded over to his small rack of clothes, and pulled on the tightest jeans that he had. No matter the customer, man or woman, he was given plenty of compliments on how they fit his butt and legs.

He could practically hear Michael's _"are you really wearing those again?"_. Michael was a stickler when it came to his clothes, he had all sorts of jeans and shorts and others things to wear, depending on what mood he was in. Ray preferred having a very small selection. In his opinion, the less he had to do or think about before work was for the better.

Once he had his pants pulled up he flopped down on a bean bag he had in the very corner of his dressing room. Now began the mental preparation stage.

Ray honestly didn't know why he had tried out for this job when Michael did. Sure, it was because Michael had tried out and Ray wasn't about to let himself be one-upped by his boyfriend-at-the-time, but other than that he wasn't sure. He was a lazy person who liked to eat crappy Mexican food and play video games for seven hours straight, and leave his apartment only when it was necessary. He wasn't even that great in social situations, and it showed in his work, especially when he wasn't in the mood for it.

He sat up and practiced his smile in his phone's front camera, and ran through some of the usual things he said. There was no time to be a grumpy asshole when he could be looking at anywhere between one and two hundred dollars in tips, depending on how big the group was. Ray practiced his smile one more time, stood, set his phone on the table, and exited his room to go to the floor.

Already, his coworkers were milling about, talking to this or that person. A few of the new hires were on stage, running through the act Lindsay had just drilled them on thirty minutes earlier. Practically everything they were doing was unskilled, but Ray couldn't blame them, he wasn't the best when he joined either.

Ray walked over to the bar, making sure to keep a smile on his face at all times. He had a short shift, only as long as the party stayed or until they were kicked out, and then he could go home and play video games and sleep. Perhaps a little of both, but right then, anything was preferable to work.

"Hey, my group show up yet?" Ray asked Barbara, leaning against the counter.

"Take a look around, you've got eyes," she said, pouring a series of four drinks one after the other, not looking up from her work.

Ray scanned the building. With the dim lights and loud music, it was hard to concentrate, but at the door, a huge group of people were mulling around. He held back a roll of his eyes, already he could tell that more than one of them were long beyond drunk, and when they sat down, they all crowded around one guy who looked particularly awkward and sang happy birthday to him.

The group settled, and Ray strolled over, the same smile he had been practicing plastered onto his face.

"Birthday, huh?" he asked, walking over to stand behind the guy who they had all sung happy birthday to. "How many kisses should I give you?" he teased.

Birthday Guy flushed dark red, from the collar of his button-up shirt to the roots of his hair. Ray wasn't normally interested in guys who were as awkward as this one, but it gave him a cute sort of charm.

"He's turning thirty one," one of his friends said, raking her over-make-upped eyes over Ray's chest and stomach. He wasn't the most built of guys that worked there, but he had his own appeal.

Now Ray was _really_ interested in Birthday Guy. Michael always made jabs at him, making fun of him for being marginally more interested in guys that were older than him. Not disgustingly older, he wasn't looking to be a sugar baby, but in the dad-age-range was just perfect.

"Sounds like fun," Ray commented with a grin. "Can I get you lovely people something while you're here?"

"How about an hour with you?" one of Birthday Guy's guy friends asked.

"Is it your birthday?" Ray asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It could be," he said back, trying to be smooth.

"Then no," was Ray's blunt answer. He wasn't in the mood to deal with assholes who thought they were being funny. "Unless you have five hundred plus dollars to drop?"

"This bastard? He's broke beyond belief," another friend said, sending the table into a chorus of laughter, except for Birthday Guy.

After the laughter ceased, they all went around in a circle and told Ray what they wanted to drink. He noted them all down and then went back to the bar, picking a stool and handing Barbara the paper.

"See? Aren't you having fun?" Barbara asked.

"Not really, but Birthday Guy is hot," Ray said in response.

When the drinks were prepared, Ray walked back to his group, his tray of drinks balanced expertly. Michael was on stage by then, starting off his solo with a series of pinwheel kicks, showing off his impressively toned legs. He was already earning more than a few whistles, his smile nowhere near as fake and plastered as Ray's was. Michael absolutely adored the attention that this job got him.

Ray passed around the drinks to the customers, making small chat occasionally with them when he was prompted to. When he was at Birthday Guy's side again, Ray instantly saw his blush returning as he finally let his eyes glance over Ray's physique. Of course, after the first glance it turned into a complete stare, jaw hanging slightly open and everything.

"You know, I was being serious about that whole kisses thing," Ray said, grinning at Birthday Guy like a cat that had eaten the canary.

"I, uh, what?" Birthday Guy asked, stumbling heavily over the short words.

"C'mon, Ryan!" one friend cheered.

 _Ryan is it?_ Ray thought, keeping steady eye contact with him.

"But, I- what?" Ryan stuttered out, looking even more befuddled than earlier.

"Do it, it'll be good for you! We can all pool our cash together," another friend added in. "We can all see you staring at him."

Ray gave a little nod in agreement. Ryan wasn't exactly being discreet about it.

"I don't..." Ryan said, glancing at his friends, then turning his gaze back to Ray's haughty expression.

Ray couldn't tell if Ryan was nervous or shy, or if he legitimately was against the idea. Hopefully a bit of peer pressure and some alcohol in his system would help convince him.

"When was the last time you had good sex? Months right? Probably since-"

"Don't mention that," Ryan interrupted, blushing a shade of red that was bright enough for Ray to see from just the stage lights. The table fell silent, with Ryan furrowing his eyebrows in thought. He grabbed the drink he had ordered, a shot of some sort, and tipped it back. He grabbed another from one of his friends, and tipped that one back to.

"What else have I got to lose?" he asked, a dorky sort of grin on his face.

Ray sprung to action in a minute, and grabbed Ryan's hand. "Let's go, then, you can work out the pricing and shit with my manager later," he said.

Ryan's friends were all whistling as Ray dragged him off, dodging and weaving through the other people with a trained practice. From behind the bar he was given a "go Ray!" and from up on stage, Michael gave him a long wolf whistle.

Maybe being called in was going to be more bearable than he had thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few people didn't believe me about Ryan's birthday D: don't worry friends, the fun stuff is next chapter. Promise!


	5. Chapter 5

Ray didn't like any aspect of his job that he was faced with. He didn't like putting ridiculous amounts of stage makeup on his face, he didn't like being on stage, he didn't like taking off his clothes for money, the list went on. His least favorite part of the job, though, was when he had to have sex with people. Of course, he didn't _have_ to, but it was a real pain when he did.

Everything he did, more so than when he was out on the floor, had to be done in a sexy and an appealing way. He had to make everything look purposeful and as though he knew what he was doing. In all actuality, most of the times he thought _fuck it_ and did whatever he thought was best.

At least Birthday Guy- Ryan- was good looking. Honestly, Ray didn't consider doing anything with anybody unless they were up to his standards. He didn't have much in the way of standards, but he wasn't about to go and do it with an eighty year old man. Granted, older was better in his opinion, but he wasn't looking to be a sugar baby; he was just looking for somebody in the dad-age-range.

And Ryan? Well, he fit that description perfectly in Ray's opinion.

Ray pulled Ryan towards one of the quieter rooms, in the sense of less noise from neighbors and that there was nothing that resembled chains or whips. Ryan seemed like the guy to blanch at the thought of even putting a pair of handcuffs on somebody. Ray had been wrong before, but with Ryan stumbling after him like an overexcited, yet lost, puppy, Ray knew he wasn't wrong.

He shut the door behind them, and immediately pinned Ryan to the wall, kissing him right away. Ryan had no objections, his hands going right to Ray's shoulders, rubbing little circles with his thumbs. If he weren't at work, this probably would have been the most romantic thing Ray had experienced in years. Ryan was sweet, and had a bit of a shy tenderness to all of his movements.

Thankfully, Ray was able to get his head into the right mindset, and getting Ryan out of his clothes without seeming _too_ eager was a simple task. While keeping his mouth focused on Ryan's, and ignoring his calloused, clumsy hands, Ray began to work on unbuttoning Ryan's button-up with deft fingers. He seemed so much more like just a t-shirt guy to Ray, was he one of those people who went to fancy dinners for their birthdays?

Putting his thoughts aside, Ray pushed Ryan's shirt off his shoulders. _Damn_ did Ryan have nice shoulders, and upper arms, and as Ray pulled the shirt off of him completely, he discovered Ryan had very nice forearms, too. It was as if the guy was one of those marble statues that looked perfect from top to bottom.

"Who knew all of this was under here?" Ray asked, trying to catch his breath as he pulled his mouth away from Ryan's.

Ryan laughed awkwardly, opting not to say anything as Ray began slowly sinking to his knees. Ray pressed his lips against Ryan's neck, with a sly grin he glanced up at Ryan, biting and sucking hard at his collar bone. There was no way somebody as perfect as this guy was going to leave here without a little mark.

Ryan's head fell back against the wall behind him with a little thunk, his hands grasping for any sort of purchase on Ray's back. At least Ray knew he was doing a good job, and either of them had yet to lose anything more than a shirt. Once he was certain he'd left a dark mark, Ray continued his little exploration of Ryan's body, leaving bites and licks wherever he thought would make the older man react. He was really sensitive around his ribs and the little bit of fat around his belly, in a cute mood-ruining-giggling sort of way.

Ray didn't let Ryan's breathy laughter stop him, and put all of it to an end the instant he snapped open the button on Ryan's pants. Ray looked up at Ryan through the little bit of fringe that was hanging in his eyes, keeping steady eye contact as he pulled down the zipper, and then tugged Ryan's pants down and around his ankles.

He wasted no time in grabbing a condom from the back pocket in his jeans- it paid to be prepared- maintaining his eye contact with Ryan. He was blushing so much that Ray would have been worried he might have been sick, but by then he figured it was just how Ryan was. Fingers working on their own to open the foil package, Ray pressed hot, open-mouthed kisses to the growing hardness in Ryan's boxers.

"How do you want to do this?" he asked once the condom wrapped had been tossed aside. He looked up at Ryan, and knew from the way that he was opening and closing his mouth like a confused fish, he was not going to get a straight answer out of him. "Let's just go with what happens," he said, and flashed Ryan a little smile. Hopefully it didn't look as strained as it felt.

Ray pulled down Ryan's boxers, and didn't stop to even briefly glance over his half-hard cock before rolling the condom on, followed shortly by his mouth. Ryan gasped the moment Ray's lips closed over him, his head falling forward. His hands grasped for any sort of purchase, finding it in grabbing Ray's hair far tighter than was comfortable.

Ray ignored the pain in his scalp, instead working Ryan's erection with his mouth and tongue as best as he could. The feeling of the latex was always a strange one, but for all he knew Ryan was carrying some sort of disease or infection. The last thing he needed was to get sick from a job that he already hated enough.

"Ohhhh my god, this is amazing," Ryan breathed out, masked by a series of little groans and whines. 

Gathering his conclusion from what Ryan's friends had said, he hadn't been in any sort of sexual contact in a while. Now, whether a while meant years or days, Ray had no way of knowing. It was still cute how he reacted, praising Ray's every touch as though it were the best he had ever had.

Ray pulled away from Ryan with a little grin. "Don't go and blow your load just yet," he said as he stood back up.

Ryan seemed to miss the contact, but when he realized where Ray was heading, a bed in the middle of the room that was sunken down in the middle and the pillows were ratty and torn at the corners, he had no complaints. He kicked off his shoes, left his pants and underwear behind, and sat down on the bed when Ray instructed him to.

Figuring he would drag this out just a little longer, Ray hooked his thumbs in the belt loops of his pants and began to pull them down, as slowly as he could. He moved and rolled his hips in time with the faint music playing from the main area of the club, drawing every aspect of Ryan's attention to him.

"What are you doing in this city?" he asked, stepping closer to Ryan, hands traveling to the front of his jeans to undo the button and zipper.

"I'm- uh, I'm moving in somewhere near here," Ryan said, stumbling over his words as he watched Ray.

"That means you'll get to come by as often as you like," Ray replied with a sly smile.

Ryan's only response was to nod dumbly, nearly his whole body flushed. His pupils were blown wide, and from the way he was lightly swaying to the beat of the music, it was clear that the alcohol had taken effect. Ray never would have guessed somebody who looked like a quarterback to be a total lightweight.

Since Ryan was clearly not paying much actual attention to Ray anymore, he shoved down his pants and underwear, and then, as un-awkwardly as he could, clambered into Ryan's lap. Ray put his hands on Ryan's cheeks, and then leaned in for a slow kiss, their pace having taken a complete one-eighty from before.

There was lube somewhere in the room, he was sure of it, but he figured it was better not to break the moment Ryan seemed to be having. His hands were gentle, and his touches were light, as purposeful as a drunk person could be. Besides, he'd been sucking Ryan's dick for long enough and even if that didn't help at all, he had the next two nights off. He wouldn't move during that time anyways, and any pain by the time he worked again could be washed back with a few Advil.

As carefully as he could, taking into mind that he couldn't hurt himself _too_ badly, Ray lowered himself onto Ryan's erection. From the way Ryan gasped and nearly threw his head back, Ray knew he was doing his job well. A bitter part of him wish that he could feel like that too, but when work was work he refused to recognize the shocks running through his body as something he enjoyed.

With gentle, slow movements, as that seemed to be how Ryan preferred his more intimate moments, Ray moved his hips up and down, thankful that the music outside of the room had slowed down and it gave him something to focus on. Other than Ryan's beautiful face, eyebrows lightly furrowed in pleasure, bottom lip safely tucked between his teeth. Other than the feeling of his strong, warm hands on Ray's hips, guiding him up and down in a steady rhythm. 

Ryan was holding him close, sighing as though he were with an actual romantic partner. Ray hardly knew what to do with the situation, he was used to people being rough, or not very good at sex even if they thought they were.

Ryan's whole body began to stiffen at odd intervals, and Ray grinned, raising an eyebrow at Ryan. "Close already?" he asked, putting his hands on Ryan's shoulders.

Ryan could barely respond to Ray's question, too wracked to properly function. Ray assumed from the way that Ryan tensed, and then relaxed a few moments later could only be a sign of his orgasm, and Ray let him ride it out for a few moments before removing himself from Ryan's body, cringing at the feeling.

"Won't you... stay? For a little bit?" Ryan asked, startling Ray who was halfway through pulling his underwear back up. His blush was back, clearly embarrassed to ask somebody who had just sold sex to him to stay and cuddle.

"It'll cost you extra," Ray said, but he obliged. He got his underwear up all of the way, and then put a hand on Ryan's shoulder to guide him to stretch out on his back. Ray figured he had five to ten minutes to waste, and he stretched out next to Ryan.

Ryan, without thinking about it, pulled Ray closer to him, one hand on his hip and the other on the back of his head. He seemed as though he was ready to say something, but stayed quiet, both of them just listening to the other's breathing.

_How ironic Ray thought bitterly the most romantic night of the year and the guy bought it._


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge big gigantic thank you to joshdunny.tumblr.com for being my beta for this fic!!

“Yeah, we, uh, we know each other,” Ryan agreed.

Geoff began to laugh as well, doubled over and laughing like a maniac. Ray still had a shit-eating grin on his face, watching Ryan’s every move. Michael was leaning against the wall, in tears from how hard he was laughing. Ryan was certain that by this point his face had gone completely red.

“Know is an understatement,” Ray said, stealing the words right from Ryan’s thoughts. His eyes scoured Ryan, making the older man feel as though he were completely exposed.

“I can’t believe it!” Michael wheezed.

“Me neither,” Ray agreed. He wasn't laughing like Michael or Geoff- who was so loud that Ryan was sure they would get in trouble if Geoff weren't the superintendent- but the amusement was showing in his dark eyes.

“Oh, man, you fucked up, Ray,” Geoff said between hysterical laughs.

“ _I_ fucked up?” Ray repeated, putting a hand to his chest. “I didn't know that this was where he was moving to. He just said that he was moving into an apartment in the area.”

“And how many apartments are in the area where you work, Ray?” Geoff asked. He had finally gotten control of his laughter, though he let out an occasional chortle despite his best efforts to hold them.

Ray shrugged, giving Geoff credit for his input. He didn't say anything else though, just gave Ryan a long stare before walking past a wheezing Michael and out of the door. Ryan looked to the floor in shame, trying to ignore the embarrassment burning his cheeks and ears.

“You fell for that one,” Michael said, regaining his composure. He had a wicked grin on his face again, making Ryan frown.

“Fell for what?” he shouted in indignation. Michael’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I didn't fall for shit!”

“Whoa, calm down, man,” Geoff choked out. He walked over to Ryan, clapping his hand down onto Ryan’s shoulder. “Let’s get your application finished and your room ready for you.”

“No, I don’t think I can stay here,” Ryan admitted. This was the only place he’d found and he had nowhere to sleep that night but his car, but there was no way he would be able to live with Ray.

“So, you fucked the guy-” just hearing it made Ryan blush more, “-get over it. At least it was good, right?” Michael snorted.

Geoff guided Ryan towards the front door, both of them ignoring Michael’s words. The door slammed after them, and Geoff rolled his eyes. Michael was angry with him for being ignored; typical.

“In a less crass way than Michael, yeah you had sex with the guy, but he’ll leave you alone. Ray keeps to himself, he’s a literal fucking shut in. I can’t even remember the last time I saw him wandering around,” Geoff said. Ryan knew he was trying to make him feel better, but it wasn't really working.

Ryan looked at Geoff helplessly, eyebrows furrowed in despair. Never before had he been in a situation like this, and for all of his higher education piled up in his brain, he had no idea how to handle it.

“I've got a place already ready to be moved into,” Geoff tried, moving onto a more persuasive tactic. “Clean, close to the main building, which means the bar every Saturday night, any sports game you could imagine, and a pool, too.”

Ryan had no reason not to stay other than embarrassment. This place was perfect, the apartments looked like the ones he’d pictured living in, and the rent fit exactly into his budget. “How close to Ray is it?” he asked, scared of the answer.

The look Geoff gave him didn't need any further explanation. “Right next door to him.”

“Of course,” Ryan groaned. Geoff sat him back down in the chair on the other side of his desk, Ryan hadn’t even noticed they’d gotten back to the main building. “Just my luck, isn't it?”

“It happens all the time,” Geoff said, waving his hand flippantly.

“ _Does_ it, though?” Ryan asked, raising an eyebrow at Geoff. “Does it _really_?”

“Back when he first started, Ray would purposely get people to move in next to him. It was like a game or some shit, I don’t know. This was completely accidental.”  
Ryan gnawed at his lower lip as Geoff spoke, considering his options. Correction: option. He had nothing left and no where to go if this place fell through. He looked up at Geoff, steeling his nerves.

“Alright,” he conceded. “I’ll take it.”

“There’s the guy I know!” Geoff announced. He took Ryan’s half-finished application, and shoved it into a drawer. Somehow, Ryan predicted that paper would never see the light of day again.

“You don’t even know me,” Ryan corrected.

“Well, I know you fucked Ray, but at least it was good, right?” He gave Ryan a grin that was just begging to be smacked off of his face, snickering under his breath. He tossed a set of keys to Ryan, who nearly missed catching them. “Follow the map or ask somebody who lives here, they’ll know where your place is. You could always find Ray,” he added in a sing-song voice.

Ryan rolled his eyes and left the office, passing a woman in a very nice vest and slacks combination who was heading into Geoff’s office. She gave him a smile, her curly, and practically orange, hair framing her beautifully angled jaw.

“Hi there, new guy,” she said with a small wave. Ryan gave her a nod in response as he headed out of the building and towards his parked car. Most of his stuff was in there, though he had a moving truck stashed at a friend’s house with the rest of his bulkier stuff.

“Need a lift, man?” some guy asked. His accent was strikingly English, which startled Ryan a bit. The accent was so jarring that for a moment he almost forgot where he was.

“No, no, I’m good,” Ryan said, turning around to face whoever was talking to him.

He was a tall, scrawny boy, who liked like he was somewhere near Michael and Ray’s age. His smile was cute, and he walked with a long gait, instantly reminding Ryan of a baby deer. His hair was sloppily swept back, and his shirt was wrinkled, looking like he’d only just woken up.

“Michael said there was a new guy coming in,” he said.

“Yeah. Name’s Ryan.” Ryan held out his hand, and the other guy gave it a firm shake.

“Gavin Free. Future famous journalist,” he proclaimed with a grin.

“Future famous…?” Ryan hesitantly asked.

Gavin shrugged, brushing the whole thing off with ease. “Never had a good story yet, and everything else I've written’s been a bust, but one day I’ll make it. Good to be sure, you know?”

“Sure,” Ryan agreed, though the logic was flawed. “News sure travels fast here,” he commented, glancing back towards the management office where the lady there had known he was new to the place.

“It sure does,” Gavin agreed, laughing. “You’ll get used to it eventually. Nothing here stays private for long.”

“So I've noticed,” Ryan grumbled, thoughts turning to the situation with Ray.

“Oh my god!” Gavin squawked.

 _Oh no_ , Ryan thought.

“You’re the guy!” Gavin continued, not skipping a beat. “You’re the one who shagged Ray!”

Ryan couldn't glare hard enough at Gavin.

“At least it was good, though, right?” he prompted with a cheeky grin.

“Why the fuck does everybody keep saying that?” Ryan snapped, furrowing his eyebrows at Gavin.

“It’s true, in’t it?” Gavin asked, and then left a second later as if what he had just said made sense.

To Ryan, it didn't. Was everybody just waiting to admit that the night he’d spent with Ray had been the best night he had had in months? They would have to pry the words from his dead body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As per geofflesramsey.tumblr.com's request (as the literal mother of this fic), mtf/trans girl Jack!


	7. Chapter 7

For three hours, Ryan moved his things from his car to his apartment. At one point he drove to his friend's house and brought over the moving truck, but for the most part, it was a short trek back and forth, back and forth. He very carefully tiptoed around the details about his neighbors when he was at his friend's place. Somebody who had been at the club with him had no business knowing that the guy he'd slept with was his next door neighbor.

They also didn't need to know that Ray was leaning against his door frame, watching Ryan move in. He had been sipping at a coke all afternoon, and damn did a soda sound good right then. Ray's apartment was just to the left of Ryan's, not even a hop, jump and a skip in distance.

He was mildly weirded out that Ray was just staring at him. If Ryan was right, he'd been staring for about an hour now. He didn't offer a drink, or a hand, and his phone was safely tucked in his pocket. He was just watching Ryan. He wasn't even smiling. Just watching.

"Can I help you with something?" Ryan asked after he deposited a box of clothes into his bedroom.

Ray shrugged, and took a sip from his soda. "You just keep doing what you're doing," he said.

"Okay?" Ryan grumbled, his patience wearing very thin. "Are you even going to offer to help me?"

"Nah," Ray said, then sipped at his drink again. "In my line of work you either look like Chris Evans or you you go for something in the middle. I don't have the muscle for that kind of shit. Of course, you would know that."

That had Ryan blushing again, picturing the lean muscle all over Ray, each one defined and adeptly toned, but not overdone. He glanced up at Ray, who was grinning. That asshole was doing everything he could to get Ryan blushing.

"Could I at least have a drink?" Ryan asked. The least Ray could do with so much staring was to help him with the heat.

Ray held out his drink for Ryan, one eyebrow quirked. "Here."

"I meant one that you haven't been drinking from," Ryan said with a scowl.

"What? Too afraid of an indirect kiss?" Ray teased.

Ryan hesitated for one moment longer, and then snatched the drink from Ray. He took a long drink from it, trying to keep his mind away from Ray's mouth; it was a fairly difficult task with the younger staring at him so intently. Clearly, Geoff had lied when he said Ray would stick to himself. Ryan had never had a more nosy neighbor.  
After he swallowed, Ryan handed the soda back to Ray, who took it and purposely brushed their fingers, keeping eye contact with Ryan. All Ryan wanted was to be left alone, but Ray seemed intent on keeping that so far out of his future that it seemed impossible.

"Hey, man, want a hand?" a voice Ryan didn't recognize asked.

Ray snorted. "Good luck, Ryan," he said, and then slunk back into his apartment, shutting the door behind him.

Ryan turned around to face whoever it was that had addressed him, faced by two young men leaning against each other. One was taller than the other, with a small, fuzzy beard growing in and dark hair. His arm was draped over the shorter man's shoulders, who carried a cute, if not child-like, amount of pudge in his cheeks.

"A hand?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, with moving in," the shorter one said. Despite their clear differences in appearance, Ryan was reminded of Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

"That would be great, actually," Ryan said, pushing his hair out of his face. He smiled at the two of them, and then offered his hand. "I'm Ryan."  
"Miles," the taller one with dark hair said, taking Ryan's hand. "That's Kerry."

Kerry took Ryan's hand from Miles, giving it a shake. "Nice to meet you. Did you just move in?"

"Yeah, that's why I'm... moving in," Ryan said with a furrow of his eyebrows. Wasn't it obvious that he was just moving in?

"Right, right," Miles agreed, taking over for Kerry. "Do you want help bringing boxes in or unpacking things inside?"

"Just bringing things in, thanks," Ryan said. He was uncomfortable with the idea of two complete strangers looking through his things, no matter how innocent their intentions were.

The two of them, with Ryan trailing a few feet behind, made the unpacking process at least three times faster than it would have taken Ryan on his own. He supposed it made sense, what with two other people helping him. In the end, every box was in Ryan's apartment and only an hour had passed.

All three of them were red in the face and sweaty, what with the heat and sun beating down on them all afternoon, but none of them seemed to mind. Ryan invited the two of them inside, and they made themselves at home on his couch, stretched out until there was nowhere left for Ryan to sit.

He didn't say anything, he had just invited the two of them to help him move everything from his car to his apartment. He fixed up three glasses of ice water, handing one to Miles and Kerry each, who took them gratefully.

"So, are you, uh, gonna give us a tip?" Miles asked out of the blue, sipping at his drink afterwards.

"What?" Ryan looked up at the two of them from the floor where he had decided to relax.

"We just helped you move all of your heavy shit into here and you won't even consider some monetary compensation?" Kerry asked with a tut.

"Monetary compensation?" Ryan parroted.

"Uh, yeah," Miles agreed, leaning closer to Kerry. "We have work that we could have been doing this entire time."

"It's only been an hour, and the two of you offered to help me," Ryan corrected. What the fuck was this about?

"Haven't you ever mowed an old lady's lawn and she gave you a lemonade and a nickel in return because she still thinks that a nickel is enough to buy a chocolate bar?" Miles asked.

"Um, no," Ryan said, his patience wearing thin. "Besides, I gave you water!"

"Water, Ryan?" Kerry asked, skepticism pouring out of him. "Water."

"Yeah, we're just two guys who need a smidgen of extra cash, shouldn't that be expected when you help somebody move in?" Miles added in.

"You offered!" Ryan repeated, his volume rising.

"I'm disappointed in you, Ryan," Kerry said. He finished off his water and set down the glass next to the couch, and then stood. "Come on, Miles. Maybe we can find a better neighbor elsewhere."

Miles stood as well, brushing off his shorts and shirt, though he wasn't dirty. "I agree with Kerry, I'm disappointed with you, Ryan."

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," Ryan grumbled. He stood and rubbed his temples, and then went to his kitchen. The two of them had yet to leave, clearly realizing that they'd crushed Ryan's resolve. "Here, twenty dollars each. You can buy at least ten chocolate bars," he said, hoping his annoyance was coming through his voice.

"Wow. Forty dollars. Really shows how much you appreciate us," Kerry said. He took the twenties from Ryan, though, and shoved them into his pocket.

"Look, I spent close to four hundred dollars last night, split between a restaurant and the fanciest strip club I've ever fucking seen, I don't have much money to spare on my fucking neighbors," Ryan spat out.

"Strip club?" Miles asked.

Ryan rolled his eyes. He just had to say something about that, didn't he? "Yes, I'm the guy that fucked Ray and then moved in next to him, better to get it out in the air sooner than later."

The two of them snickered, trying to hide it behind their hands. "Have fun living next to him," Kerry laughed. They left after that, and Ryan followed them out, wanting to make sure they wouldn't try to weasel anything else out of him, specifically his possessions.

"They're right maniacs, ain't they?" Gavin said to Ryan's left, making him jump.

"Where the fuck did you come from?" he hissed. Kerry and Miles were on the ledge above him and Gavin, if their loud footsteps were any sort of indication.

"Oh, I was just visiting Ray," Gavin said, running a hand through his messy hair. Had he been visiting or taking a nap? Ryan couldn't really tell.

"Yeah. Fucking maniacs," Ryan muttered.


	8. Chapter 8

Gavin nodded in agreement with Ryan's statement, letting a long yawn tear his jaw. "They're nice people, actually, they just take what they can when they can."

"So I noticed," Ryan said, releasing a sigh. "They just swindled forty dollars out of me."

"Only forty?" Gavin asked, laughing loudly. "You're complaining about forty damn dollars? What's it matter?"

"Forty dollars could be my lunch for the next few days!" Ryan snapped.

"Alright, alright," Gavin said, raising his hands in his defense. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, clicking it on and glancing at the time. He sighed and rolled his eyes, and then stuffed the device back into his pocket. "Michael's got work soon, I'd better head out." He stretched his neck with another yawn, and gave Ryan a sidelong glance. "I'll see you around?"

"Yeah, we'll see each other around," Ryan agreed. They only lived in the same apartment building together.

Gavin slunk off, his legs looking incredibly un-proportionate compared to the rest of his body. He was awkward and ungainly, halfway between growing out of being a teenager and into an adult.

Ryan ran a hand through his hair, watching Gavin walk back to his apartment. Ryan had figured that he and Michael were just roommates, but perhaps it was more than that. When Ray's door opened behind him, he turned to see who it was, though there was really only one person who it could have been.

Ray was standing in his doorway again, scratching at the bit of stubble that had grown in along his jawline. "Hey," he said, his voice soft.

"Hey," Ryan said, offering a little smile to Ray. The interaction was stiff; the tension borderline palpable. He opened his mouth to say more, but promptly shut it again. There wasn't much that he could say to relieve the situation.

"Do you want to get dinner?" Ray asked, completely out of the blue.

Ryan was taken aback at first, turning to stare at Ray with raised eyebrows. "What?" he asked, left in a sort of stupor. "Dinner?"

"Yeah, it's that fuckin' thing where you go and eat food," Ray deadpanned.

Ryan couldn't tell if he was upset from something he had said, or maybe from something Gavin had done while he was visiting. He didn't doubt that Gavin was the type of person to say something that would land him in a serious amount of trouble. Either way, Ryan was not up to having dinner with somebody he had only met one day prior.

"Maybe some other time," he said, trying to pick his words carefully. "I've got uh... things to do... y'know."

"Yeah, sure," Ray said, rolling his eyes. "Just say no if you're going to be a bitch about it." He shot Ryan a look that he couldn't read, but it sure looked like Ray was more than a little ticked off. He retreated into his apartment, kicking the door closed behind him.

Ryan groaned and carded his fingers through his hair, pushing it out of his face. If Ray was going to be his neighbor, he really needed to try to get along better with him. Ray hadn't done anything wrong, and as much as it embarrassed Ryan to think about, all they did was have sex. Big deal.

He shook his head and walked back inside his apartment, looking around at all the boxes piled up; he really had his work cut out for him. He tore open a box, one that he had packed most of his electronics in. For his years as an IT guy, having a complex set-up of tech was a necessity.

Ryan spent a few hours unpacking, becoming sidetracked occasionally by pictures or the odd batch of nostalgia. He had gotten rid of most of his old photographs, but he kept some of them when they really held sentimental attachment with him. At some point, only when he realized that the sun had fallen below the horizon, he glanced at his watch. It was nearly nine o'clock, and from Ray's apartment, he could hear the dull thumps and bumps from what sounded like music.

Ryan stood up from where he had been on the floor, and put his hands on his lower back, stretching this way and that until he heard a satisfying series of pops and cracks. He let out a sigh, glancing at the wall between his and Ray's apartment, as though he could see his somewhat odd neighbor.

He meandered into his kitchen, rooting through the fridge until he found leftover pizza from quite a few days ago, and a few cans of coke. Stacking it all up on top of each other, he opened the door of his apartment with his elbow, a miracle all in itself, and wandered over to Ray's place, just a few feet over.

Ryan shifted the food onto one arm, knocking on the door with his other hand. Instead of being greeted by anybody, or finding the door locked, it very slowly inched open, and the volume of the music from inside tripled. Ryan cringed, leaning his head into the open door.

"Ray?" he called. "I, uh, brought dinner."

The entire apartment was coated in a thin layer of smoke, enough that it had started to burn at Ryan's eyes. It didn't smell like smoke from something Ray had burnt, instead it smelled like... Ryan took a deep breath through his nose, immediately coughing it all out- had Ray been smoking? In his apartment? Ryan was also positive that the smoke he smelled was not tobacco smoke.

"Ray?" he called out again, hoping for a response that time. Without being given permission, which was quite the stretch for him, Ryan entered Ray's apartment, leaving the door wide open to let out some of the smoke that had accumulated.

Ray was lounging across his couch, a dazed look on his face. Ryan couldn't believe it; Ray had been smoking fucking weed. He approached the couch, a frown carved into his face.

"Hi, Ray," he said, honestly it was much more of a shout- the music was deafening-, looking over the younger with a disdainful expression.

Ray glanced up at him, but clearly didn't care that Ryan had technically broken in. His eyes widened when he noticed food, though, and moved over right away to give Ryan room to sit down.

"Hey, Rye," Ray said, words long and dragged out. He had a grin on his face, leaning against the back of the couch without a care in the world. "I see you took up the dinner offer."

"It's just leftovers," Ryan said, his frown deepening, "and I don't think I'll be staying while you're like this."

Ray furrowed his eyebrows at Ryan, taking the soda when it was handed to him, and then snatching the pizza box from Ryan. "I'm not doing anything wrong," he grumbled.

"Drugs are illegal!" Ryan snapped, he wasn't going to take any of this shit.

"And in most places, so is prostitution," Ray retorted, craning his neck to look up at Ryan. "But that didn't stop you did it?" he asked.

Ryan didn't have anything to say to that one.

"I mean, yolo, right?" Ray said, snickering afterwards as though he had just said something incredibly clever.

"Sure," Ryan growled. He couldn't believe Ray, what was he thinking? If Geoff walked in, certainly Ray would get into serious trouble, but with the way things were run at the Rooster Teeth apartments, Ryan wasn't one hundred percent certain about that last part. He could actually picture Geoff as the superintendent to allow it, as long as he was given half of the contraband.

"Enjoy the pizza," he said after a while of watching Ray struggle with the tab on the top of the can.

"You're not gonna stay?" Ray asked, finally getting the soda to open.

"Not tonight." The smoke was really burning his eyes and throat, and the music was giving him a pounding headache. If he stayed for much longer, he wasn't sure if he would be able to walk back to his apartment.

Before he left, he cracked all of Ray's windows, figuring a nice breeze would help clear out the apartment. Ray had opened the pizza box by then, already halfway through his first slice. Ryan left with a groan and a roll of his eyes, shutting the door after him. As soon as the door closed, the song changed and Ray let out a loud 'whoop!'.

"Tell me what you want, what you really, really want!" he screeched, a caterwauling noise that was worse than a frog trying to sing actual words.

Ryan shook his head, but couldn't help the little smile that began to replace the frown he had been sporting. Ryan didn't know if it was because of the drugs or because it was just his personality, but he sure seemed to enjoy bad music.

The night air was thick and muggy, and within only a few minutes, Ryan was sweating like a pig. Across a courtyard of sorts and towards the parking lot, Ryan could just barely make out Michael and Gavin. If neither of them had such recognizable features it would have been hard to tell, but Gavin's lanky height and Michael's mop of curly hair were easily identifiable under the cheap light of a lamp post.

Gavin was waving his arms about wildly, while Michael stood fairly still. Ryan wished he were just a bit closer so he could know what they were talking about, but it was rude to just waltz into other people's conversations. He watched them for a while, until eventually Gavin leaned up, and Michael got up on his toes, and even Ryan knew what they were doing from so far away.

He turned away to be polite, and went back into his apartment. Ryan flopped over onto his bed with a loud sigh, hoping he would be able to ignore the music that Ray had started playing even louder than before, and get some sleep in.


	9. Chapter 9

Ryan figured that after a few hours, Ray would have stopped the music and gone to sleep. He figured that nobody would be able to stay awake until three in the morning listening to the same fifteen songs over and over and over. With only a paper-thin wall between himself and Ray, he was certain the music would drive him crazy.

He tossed and turned this way and that, trying to get a little more comfortable. Even when he felt like he was close to falling asleep, a new song would start up, and he found himself as wide awake as ever.

"Jesus Christ, Ray," he groaned, rolling over and pressing his face into the pillows.

At this point, he wasn't even sure if earplugs we're going to help his situation. The music was loud enough that Ryan could feel the bass in his chest, and every single lyric was crystal clear. With every hour it seemed as though the music was getting louder and louder.

"Ray, you're going to drive me fucking crazy," he groaned.

Ryan sat up, and pushed his hair out of his face. He sighed slowly, and kicked his legs over the edge of the bed. Through the whole night, he had only gotten somewhere around thirty minutes of sleep. No sane person could run on thirty minutes of sleep, but clearly Ray didn't qualify in the category of 'sane people'.

He wandered out into his kitchen, searching through what he had. He had a few cases of beer, and certainly if he got himself blackout drunk he would sleep well. When he woke up though, he would not be very happy with himself. 

Against his better judgement, Ryan grabbed a beer from the fridge and popped it open. He gulped down nearly half of it right away, setting down the bottle with a loud sigh. With nothing better to do, he brought the beer to his couch, and booted up his Xbox.

For at least the fiftieth time that night, Ray began to play a Backstreet Boys song. Ryan tried to tune it out, focusing instead on his GTAV game that he had started years ago, but never got around to finishing. It wasn't the easiest task he had ever set himself to, but he tried anyways. 

The music lasted for an hour longer, with Ryan three beers deep and close to getting a fourth. He was more than a little tipsy at that point, but he wouldn't consider himself drunk quite yet. When the music stopped, he closed his eyes and held his breath. During the first few hours of music it often seemed as though Ray were done with it, but would start it back up a few moments later.

This time, the silence lasted. Ryan saved his game, and shut down the Xbox. It seemed as though Ray had finally given up, and only just when Ryan was starting to enjoy himself. He pushed his hair out of his face again- he really needed a haircut- and stood up, nearly every bone in him creaking from sitting down for so long. 

Just when he thought that he would finally, finally be able to get some sleep, there was a loud banging on his front door. Ryan closed his eyes in disbelief, if it was Ray at his door, he was certain he was going to punch a hole through his wall. He had to take a few moments to breathe and gather himself, trying to refrain from shouting profanities at who he assumed was his neighbor.

A few minutes later, with the pounding on his door increasing in urgency, Ryan decided it would be better to deal with the problem now, rather than later. He trudged over to his door, and peered through the peephole. Just as he had thought, there was Ray, swaying on his feet and looking just as dazed as he had been before.

Ryan opened the door with a sigh, one hand on his hip. He didn't open the door wide enough for Ray to try and bust in, just enough that he could lean outside.

"What do you want, Ray?" Ryan asked, his lack of sleep evident in his voice. "It's four in the morning."

Ray shrugged, smiling away at Ryan. "I don't really want anything," he said. 

Ryan rolled his eyes, and tried a different tactic. "Why are you here, Ray?"

"I wanted to apologize," Ray said, stepping closer to Ryan's partially-open door. "Yknow, for the music."

Ryan frowned, he seriously doubted that apologizing was all Ray had in mind. "Anything else?" He asked.

"Well, I-" Ray cut himself off, looking up at Ryan. "I just wanted to say sorry. Really."

"Thanks, I guess," Ryan said, furrowing his eyebrows at Ray. If he said that was all, then Ryan would take his word for it.

He opened his door a little wider, with the intent of asking if Ray wanted to hit up a 24-hour ice cream shop or fast food place, but every thought was swept out of his brain in an instant. Ray's hands were on his cheeks the moment the door was open for him, and his lips were against Ryan's, a disgusting mix of pot smoke and stale pizza.

His mouth was hungry and desperate, searching for anything against Ryan's. Ryan found his hands on Ray's shoulders, and a moment later he pushed Ray off, eyes wide and practically gasping for breath. Ray was staring back at him, looking amazed that Ryan had pushed him away.

"What was that?" Ryan snapped, though he wasn't angry, just surprised.

"I-" Ray paused, fidgeting nervously, "For argument's sake, what do you think it was?" He asked.

"I, I don't know! That's why I asked you," Ryan said, frowning.

They stood in silence for a long time, Ryan watching Ray avoid eye contact with him at all costs. After having enough of the silence, Ryan walked a step forward to close the distance between the two of them, and pressed a kiss to Ray's cheek. Ray gave him a deer-in-the-headlights look, wide doe-eyes and a stunned expression.

"When it's not four in the morning, you're not high, and I'm not drunk, come back," Ryan said. He wasn't sure if he meant the words, the buzz in his brain was starting to slur his tongue.

"Okay," Ray said. He sighed and rubbed his cheeks, as though the motion would get rid of the blush staining his face.

He turned to make his way back to his apartment, but Ryan stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. He leaned forward, and pressed his lips to Ray's in a much more chaste kiss than Ray's had been. Ryan pulled back, giving Ray time to recover and then flee to his apartment, Ryan respectively retreating into his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a shorter chapter, sorry about that!


	10. Chapter 10

"You did _what_?" Geoff asked, his voice cracking mid-sentence. It was as though he hadn't heard Ryan's story at least two times now.

Ryan was honestly surprised that he could understand what Geoff had said at all. With three glasses of scotch in his system, and more to come, his words had long since slurred into one long blur. With only a day and a half under his belt with Geoff as his landlord he had yet to see the man drunk, but after tonight, he wasn't sure he wanted to experience it more than once.

He was aggressive in an odd way, not in the sense that he was going to get into a random fist fight, but in the sense that he would constantly try to knock the phone out of Ryan's hands. He was sloppy and stumbling, but still relatively like himself.

Ryan wasn't sure how he had gotten himself into this situation. Geoff was at his door at five, right after Ryan was getting settled to tuck into a nice dinner, suggesting that they hit the town that night. He was expecting to be given a tour, to see the city and maybe some of the best restaurants. Instead, he was being taken to all of the skeezy bars that were within walking distance of the RTApts.

Three bars and two beers down, Ryan cut himself off. He didn't have the money to go drinking, and while Geoff did, he really didn't want his landlord paying for him to descend into blind drunkenness. Instead, he stuck to Coke, or if it was a really skeezy bar, Pepsi.

"I kissed Ray," Ryan said.

Geoff turned in his barstool, and it was such a swift movement that for a moment Ryan was afraid he was going to fall flat onto his face. "You did _WHAT_?" he repeated, with more urgency and at least ten times louder.

At that point, Ryan knew he was just repeating it for at least the fourth time, despite how many times Ryan had said "I kissed Ray", just because he was being overdramatic. Ryan didn't know how much more simple he could make three words.

"I kissed Ray," he said again. Maybe a little more evaluation would help get the message through Geoff's alcohol clogged brain. "He was high, I was tired, and I kissed him. That's where it ends, nothing else." Honestly, he hated talking about this kind of stuff with his landlord, even if Geoff wasn't really the most landlord-y of landlords, it was something that deeply embarrassed him. "I didn't think it was that bad of a thing to do."

"Well, it's not, but it sure was fucking stupid," Geoff said.

"Wow, I'm surprised you said more than three words that time," Ryan quipped.

"Okay, asshole," Geoff grumbled with a drawn-out roll of his eyes. "Don't try and be some sort of smart-ass." He tipped back another scotch, and with each glass, Ryan's concern for Geoff's liver was growing exponentially. "You realize what Ray does for a living?" Geoff asked.

"Do you- do you realize how I _met_ Ray?" Ryan mumbled, furrowing his eyebrows at Geoff. 

"Well no shit, Sherlock, it was only the biggest news of the complex since the day you showed up," he said. "But, the point fucking remains, do you realize what he does for a living? Do you know how shit he is at keeping a steady relationship?"

"No, I don't know that," Ryan said. "But I can infer from what you were implying earlier-"

"Smaller words, asshole."

It was Ryan's turn to roll his eyes. "When I first moved in, you were talking about how Ray played some sort of game with the people he slept with."

"Yeah, but I'm not sure if that's true with you," Geoff said, mulling over another scotch that had been poured for him. "He stares at your ass when you walk, and he was bothering the fuck out of you when he was high."

"Speaking of which- why don't you kick him out for having so much of that in his apartment? Or being such a nuisance at deplorable hours of the morning?" Geoff held up a finger to him, his sparse eyebrows raised at Ryan.

"I said small words."

"He was being loud and it was early," Ryan said. He was growing very tired very quickly of drunk Geoff who didn't understand words that were longer tan six letters.

"He's my friend," Geoff said. "He's a piece of shit, and a real piece of work, but he's still a good kid. It's not like it fuckin' bothers anybody else. You're just the new guy, you'll get used to it quick."

Ryan highly doubted that.

Geoff stood up, slammed back his fourth drink, and then set the glass on the bar. "C'mon, one last stop on our road trip," Geoff said.

"Where are we going?" Ryan asked, eyes narrowed at Geoff suspiciously. "If you're dragging me to another bar then count me out, I can't even lie and say that I'm the designated driver and get free food."

"Well that fucking sucks dicks for you, doesn't it?" Geoff asked. He seemed proud of his answer, and blowing off any of Ryan's concerns, headed towards the door of the bar after leaving a poorly-counted amount of cash on the counter.

With no other options, Ryan followed after Geoff.

"Where are we going?" Ryan asked again.

"To see my baby boy," Geoff said, a confident, if overly zealous swagger to his walk.

"Michael?" Ryan mused. He didn't know if Michael worked that night, but if he remembered correctly, the club opened at ten, or at least at some time around ten. He grabbed his phone from his front pocket, clicking it on to check the time.

9:55.

"Yeah, Michael," Geoff said, his words drawled and dragged out. When he was drunk, Ryan could easily pinpoint the Alabama twang in his words. "He likes when I visit him at work, it gives him a chance to show off or some shit. As if he doesn't do that on a daily fucking basis."

Ryan was, momentarily, thankful that Michael's heavy flirting with Geoff wasn't something only he noticed. Earlier the day before, the significant amount of times that Michael called Geoff 'daddy' were practically burned into Ryan's memory. Frankly, they were memories that he would rather forget.

"How do you know Michael?" Ryan asked. It was entirely possible that the only relationship between them was landlord-and-renter, but from the way they acted around each other, Ryan could only guess that they had known each other for a long time.

"Michael? Oh man, he's been with me for-fucking-ever, I'm pretty fucking certain the kid stalks me. I used to go to his club a lot, and then he applied at the apartments, and he's lived there for a good four years now, but I've known him at least six or seven," Geoff said.

"How long has he been working at that place? Was he even old enough to start working there seven years ago?"

"Don't be fooled by his cute babyface," Geoff chided, glancing at Ryan over his shoulder, "he's twenty-eight."

"Is he?" Ryan asked. "Or is that just what he told you?"

"No, he actually is. I've seen his birth certificate, it's nothing fancy, but right there it says 1987."

"I wouldn't have guessed," 

They hadn't been walking for long, but already Ryan could see the lights and the giant LED sign of the club approaching. He could only pray that Ray wasn't working.


	11. Chapter 11

When Ray got a text from Michael at 10:15 p.m., he didn't know what to expect. Michael clearly wasn't on stage yet, although the club was open, but if he was on the floor he wouldn't have his phone there either. So his performance had been moved, or he had skipped work that night.

Either way, Ray knew he was going to be in for an earful (eyeful).

What he wasn't expecting, were just two simple words.

_Ryan's here_

Ryan was where? At the club? Ray furrowed his eyebrows at the text, reading it ten times over just to make sure he hadn't hallucinated the letters.

_Why?_ Ray texted back.

Michael didn't respond right away, which meant he was off to work, or he was trying to be a dramatic piece of shit. Ray tossed his phone to the other side of his bed, rolled over, and closed his eyes. He was trying to enjoy his second night off in a row, especially after he had seriously fucked that first one up. The last thing he needed to be stressing over was Ryan or work, or Ryan at his work.

-

The moment Geoff walked in the door, Michael knew that he was there. The man's boisterous laugh was hard to miss, even over the pounding beat of the music and the background noise from plenty of other guys. Michael peeked around the edge of the curtain, trying to spot Geoff. He grinned when he saw him, sitting down at his usual table right in front of Michael's pole. He had brought a friend along, which made Michael's expression falter.

Was that... _Ryan_?

He squinted at them, trying to determine for sure if that was Ryan or not.

His squinting was pointless, though. There was no way he could mistake that lazy wave of his golden blonde hair, or his arms that were practically bulging out of his shirt. He had the perfect broad shoulders and narrow hips-- it wasn't hard to see why Ray had fallen for him, and fallen hard.

He only had a few moments before he was needed on stage, but he could get a message out to Ray in that time. Besides, he was the star of the show, if he was late, then everybody would just have to wait for him to show up.

As fast as he could, he tapped out the message for Ray, just two words, and then sent a quick _love you babe_ to Gavin before rushing back to the curtain. He was at his spot just a moment before they began to open, gathering himself and diving straight into his stage persona. All candy sweet smiles and bouncing with each step.

Michael didn't even have to get close to Geoff to know that he was drunk. From the way his heavy-lidded eyes drooped more than usual, and the dumb grin on his face, it was obvious that he was long past sober. He didn't even stop to flash a grin or a wink at any of his other customers, going straight up to Geoff and Ryan, each foot falling in time with the music.

-

Geoff didn't need to be an expert at lip reading, or even mildly sober to know what Michael had mouthed at him from up on the stage. His usual greeting of 'hey daddy'. Geoff gave him a little wave in return, smiling lazily and leaning back in the comfortable, cushioned chairs. He was only just noticing, maybe the alcohol in his system was helping- but damn had these chairs always been so comfortable.

Michael hadn't even gotten a hand on the pole and he was already pulling out all of the stops, carding his fingers through his wild, ruddy hair, and running a hand up and down his exposed chest. He had a different sort of appeal than Ray, even Ryan could admit it.

His chest was perfect and pale, unblemished and taut with muscles and sinew. His flat belly dipped into a perfect V that disappeared into his sinfully short shorts, the faintest trail of auburn hair starting at his navel.

Geoff had seen his act hundreds of times over, even the new ones. Michael was, more than anything, a show off. Even so, when he grabbed the pole and easily moved into a quick air walk, Geoff couldn't help but give him a loud wolf whistle and a cheer. Ryan, seated just to his right, seemed uncomfortable- at best.

"You've never seen him dance have you?" Geoff asked Ryan, pointing his thumb in Michael's direction.

"I've seen a little bit," Ryan admitted, sipping awkwardly at a coke he had ordered.

Geoff didn't remember ordering, but whatever it was, it was damn good. The music was too loud in his ears, and Michael's shit-eating grin was all he could see, but it didn't make a damn difference to him.

He had hardly been paying attention to Michael, just watching without really absorbing, but the kid seemed happy enough with it. His focus was drawn back when Michael hooked one knee around the pole, and pushed himself into a spin, lifting his other leg nearly parallel with the metal. Geoff had to give him credit where credit was due, Michael was damn good at his job.

Halfway through his spin, Michael brought his legs over his head, performing a flawless somersault that landed him nose-to-nose with the pole. Without letting his momentum stop, he gave himself the tiniest running start, and pinwheeled his long, slender legs beautifully for his enraptured audience.

Geoff gave him a whoop and Michael walked back around to face Geoff, giving his best winning smile before turning around and bending over at his hips, trailing his hands along his legs. If Geoff weren't so used to this, if he were still some scrawny kid with a head too big for his own good, he would have been drooling all over himself. Instead, he sat forward, pulling a fat bill from his wallet.

Michael immediately took the hint, turning to face Geoff again and sinking to his knees.

"For me?" he asked, though Geoff couldn't hear his words, only just able to read his lips through a thick haze of alcohol. Geoff shot him a wink, and Michael edged himself to the end of the stage, still moving in time with the music with little thrusts of his hips, or the way he tapped his toes against the stage.

Geoff sat up, and tucked the money into the front of Michael's shorts, earning him a raised eyebrow.

"You know that anything over twenty gets you some alone time, daddy," Michael said, reaching out to trail his fingers against Geoff's cheek. He hadn't shaved in a few days, a light and scruffy stubble starting to form along his jaw and neck.

"I was planning on it," Geoff said, stumbling backwards into his chair again, and lifting his drink to Michael.

His act was nearly over, s he gave one last, long spin around the pole, showing off the elegance of his arms and legs.

-

"Be right back," Geoff slurred to Ryan, standing and wobbling his way towards the back rooms.

Ryan watched him go, not really sure what else he could do. So, he sat and waited, watching the other performers go through their routines. It was clear, even to an untrained eye like Ryan's, that none of the other boys who performed were as good as Michael. He had had a grace to each of his movements, an air of elegance and years of practice. He wondered what Ray was like up there, it wasn't something he had the privilege to see that night.

Geoff wasn't back until about thirty or forty minutes later, Ryan was two cans of coke and nearly another beer down, and he had seen countless performances, ranging in quality and skill. He stood up when Geoff gestured to him, frowning at his appearance.

Geoff's lips were red and puffed out, and Ryan could count at least five hickies that weren't there before he left.

"I thought," Ryan began, furrowing his eyebrows in thought, "I thought that Michael was with Gavin? And that you were married to Jackie?" he asked.

"Mostly," Geoff said.

"Mostly?" Ryan parroted, gawking at his landlord. "What the fuck does that mean?"

He took another glance over his shoulder, back towards where Geoff had come from. Michael was there, leaning against the wall, in his shorts that hardly even counted as shorts anymore. He looked pleased with himself, as though he had just scored a great victory.

 

Ray > Michael, 10:18p.m.: Why?

Ray > Michael, 10:34p.m.: Michael? Hey????

Michael > Ray, 11:03p.m.: Ryan looked like he missed you

Ray > Michael, 11:04p.m.: Did you say anything to him?

Michael > Ray, 11:10p.m.: Too busy with geoff for that shit

Ray > Michael, 11:12p.m.: Wait what?

Ray > Michael, 11:15p.m.: Hellooo??

Michael > Ray, 12:57a.m.: I'm coming over


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eleven Ways lives again.

Gavin was waiting for Michael outside of the club like a dutiful boyfriend with their piece-of-shit car. Technically, Gavin wasn’t licensed and technically he wasn’t supposed to drive it. If he got caught, well then he and Michael would be in serious trouble. He had already missed the deadline for his green card, and neither of them knew how much time he had left before somebody came knocking on their door.

The redhead slid into the car just before one a.m. looking just as exhausted as he usually did after work. Michael leaned over the center console, and gave Gavin a quick kiss. He had a crumpled newspaper at his feet, and Michael immediately recognized it as the one Gavin wrote for. He tried to reach over Gavin’s knee to reach it, but Gavin batted his hand away.

“It’s not my best,” he muttered.

“Well let me read it, dumbass,” Michael scoffed. “I don’t care if it’s about another fucking no-one-gives-a-shit wedding, I want to read it.”

Gavin blocked him from getting the newspaper again, and Michael shoved him aside, snatching it away.

“Michael!” he snapped. “I don’t want you to read it!”

Michael ignored what Gavin had to say, instead flipping through the papers to try and find Gavin’s article. When he didn’t see anything by Gavin Free, he checked quickly by Gavin’s feet to make sure that he hadn’t taken the paper from Michael. He checked the numbers next, looking over and seeing that none of them were skipped.

“Gavvy, I don’t…” Michael trailed off, furrowing his eyebrows at the lack of an article from him.

“I told you that rent would be tight this month,” Gavin muttered.

Michael couldn’t remember the last time he had heard Gavin so downtrodden. He looked over the pages one more time, trying to see if maybe he had missed it. After a third scan, Michael realized that Gavin didn’t have an article. He didn’t even have the tiniest clipping in a corner of the entire paper.

Michael didn’t waste a second longer, balling the paper up and tossing it into the backseat. There was a hole in the floor back there, and Michael had half the heart to stuff the paper through before he drove off. Instead, he stuck the key in the ignition, and took off without bothering to look back. He sped out of the parking lot, and blazed through a red light. There was no one out at that time, and the streets were all but dead.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Michael asked, furrowing his eyebrows. He could feel the slightest hint of rage bubbling under his skin, but he was trying desperately to control it, for Gavin’s sake.

“Because I didn’t want you to get mad,” Gavin muttered.

“Gavin, we’re already in serious shit, and you know it,” he hissed. “You don’t have a fucking green card anymore, and what am I supposed to do if you get taken away?” he snapped.

“Michael, it’s not happening. I’m one guy in a huge mess of Americans trying to keep immigrants out of the country, I’m not going to be high on their list.”

Michael shrugged. He supposed that at least that much was true. He was still pissed, though, that Gavin had kept such a secret from him. In a way, it almost made him feel betrayed, a deep burning coil winding tightly in his stomach.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he repeated.

Gavin paused that time, instead of giving Michael an immediate answer. He rolled down the window, and let the brisk night air into their car. The papers behind them fluttered, and Michael appreciated the soft ambiance. He hadn’t even turned on the radio he had been so mad.

“I didn’t want you to think I was useless,” Gavin said. He leaned his elbow on the rolled-down window, and propped his chin in his hand. “I haven’t been published in weeks, Michael. They keep saying that my work isn’t good enough anymore, and that I don’t have the same spark as when I started with them.”

“Maybe you should find another paper,” Michael suggested. “A company who will actually appreciate you.”

“I know, but I’ve been working on other projects,” he said. “Like my book.” He approached the subject carefully, last time he had brought up his book, Michael hadn’t reacted the best. Just as he thought, Michael sighed. “Listen- Michael, I’ve got a lot done with it! I’ve even got a publisher who says they might be interested!”

“Gavin, you’re a journalist,” Michael mumbled. “I’m not trying to restrict you, but that’s what you came to America to do.”

“People can change their minds,” Gavin said.

At that point, they had arrived at the apartment complex. Michael pulled into their spot and parked the car, staying there for a long time. Gavin was the first to get out, though he lingered in the door for a moment longer.

“Are you coming?” he asked.

“I’ve got to go to Ray’s first,” Michael said. He glanced at Gavin out of the corners of his eyes, and saw him frown. He held out his hand, and then Michael passed over the keys. Gavin left him, but Michael stayed in the car for a while longer.

Eventually, he got out, and headed towards Ray’s area of the building. His lights were on, and so were Ryan’s. Michael wondered how long ago Ryan had gotten home, and if Ray and Ryan had had an incident like the night before. Geoff had managed to tell him all about it, in between getting fiercely kissed as though the two of them were going to die.

He knocked on Ray’s door, and was greeted with the usual cloud of smoke filling his lungs, but without Ray’s loud music. He looked rather serious, actually, a rarity for him- especially when he was high.

“Why was Ryan at the club?” he asked, thick eyebrows pulled together pensively.

“Geoff dragged him along,” Michael said. “They spent all day and afternoon drinking, and Geoff wanted to visit me. Ryan was required to go.”

“He didn’t see anybody?” Ray asked, a little frown on his lips.

“No, Ray. Are you gonna let me in or what?” he asked.

Ray paused for another moment, but then stepped aside to let Michael in. “You promise he didn’t see anybody?”

“I promise, Ray,” he said, furrowing his eyebrows. He went straight to Ray’s kitchen, dying to get some sort of food in him after performing all night. There was nothing there, but Michael wouldn’t pass up a soda that had a decent amount of sugar in it. He turned to Ray with a catlike smirk. “The way you talking, you sound like you’d be mad if he had seen somebody else,” he teased.

“Yeah, I would,” Ray grumbled.

“You’re not even dating,” Michael said.

He flopped over onto Ray’s couch, and stretched out. On a good day, he could take up the entire thing without even thinking about it. Ray sat next to him, squished into a corner of the couch. 

“I know we’re not,” Ray muttered.

“But you like him, don’t you?” he asked.

“Wow, Michael, you must be a professional sleuth or something, no one could have ever figured that out.”

Michael shoved Ray with his foot. “I don’t appreciate the sass, smart-ass. If you like him, just fucking tell him.”

“Michael, it’s not as easy as that. Not everybody gets a guy to move to America for him,” he said, tone dark. He was done with the Ryan topic, all he needed was some time to figure it out on his own for a while.

“Whatever, Ray.” Michael rolled his eyes, sipping at the carbonated soda and letting Ray brood in silence for a minute. After that minute was up, he kicked Ray in the side again. “You should take him to Geoff’s place,” he suggested. “He’s seen our shows, why not let him see someone else’s show?”

“You think Ryan wants to go see a drag show?” Ray asked. It was a rhetorical question, he knew that somebody like Ryan wouldn’t want to go see a drag show with his landlord as the main act.

“I mean, there’s no way to know until you drag him there,” Michael said with a grin.

“Jesus, Michael, is that really the best you could think of?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't forgotten about this story yet but I would say it's a safe bet to stop expecting two chapters a week.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hell yeah look at me go

Ray made sure to wake up early. Well, as early as he could after staying up late with Michael. After his friend’s horrible pun, they had stayed up for a few more hours to watch re-runs of The Walking Dead. Michael hadn’t wanted to go home, and Ray didn’t ask him why. Michael ended up spending the night at his place, and it was one of the reasons Ray woke up early.

Ray was a very conscientious sleeper, sticking to his half of the bed and never stretching out. Michael was the complete opposite. Ray woke to a foot impaling the small of his back, sending him tumbling off his bed and onto the carpet. On the way down, he hit his head on the bed side table, and landed with his nose in the spot where Gavin had once spilled copious amounts of beer. No matter how many times Ray had tried to clean it, it still smelled like cheap beer.

After an alarm like that, he couldn’t have possibly considered going back to sleep. So he plodded to his kitchen, cracked the fridge and grabbed a half-empty can of soda. It was his least favorite, but the moment the sugary drink hit his tongue, he was far more awake. That didn’t stop him from grabbing a RedBull to pair it with. He stretched and yawned, meandering to his front door.

He didn’t glance through the peephole, and the moment he opened the door, he was nearly punched in the face.

“Oh, Ray!” Ryan bumbled, taking a step back. One second he had been preparing to knock on the door, and the next, Ray’s face was there. He looked exhausted, deep bags under his eyes, and a light, unkempt stubble on his cheeks. “What’s up?” Ryan asked.

Ray raised an eyebrow and looked Ryan up and down. “What’s up?” he mimicked. “Dude, just say hi. ‘Sorry for almost punching you after you got kicked out of bed’ maybe.”

“You got kicked out of bed?” Ryan asked. “By who?”

“Michael spent the night,” Ray explained. Ryan had a stupefied, yet somehow adorable, expression on his face. Ray let a little smile slip onto his lips, admiring just how expressive Ryan was. After working with people who wore permanent masks for years on end, it was nice to see some real emotion.

“Is that still a thing? Spending the night at people’s places?”

“Well, when it’s between two gay, adult males, usually there’s some fucking involved.” He caught the horrified look pass through Ryan’s features, and rolled his dark eyes. “Calm down, Ryan. He ate my food and watched TV.”

“Oh,” Ryan said with a dark blush. It wasn’t as though he would have been jealous if they had—Ray was an adult, he could make choices for himself. “Sounds like fun,” he said.

“You should try it sometime,” Ray suggested. He tensed his jaw, thinking about what Michael had said earlier that morning. “You wanna hang out tonight?” he asked.

“Do you have work?” Ryan asked.

“No,” Ray replied. “But we can go see a show. Not like, a stripping show. A different kind of show.”

“A movie?” Ryan prompted. “There’s a new movie out that looks pretty good, I can look up some times for it, maybe.”

“Nah,” Ray said, waving his hand dismissively at Ryan. “I have other plans.”

“Other plans,” Ryan parroted. “What other plans?”

“Just be ready by six,” Ray said. With that, he closed his door in Ryan’s face, not even offering if maybe Ryan wanted to come in.

—

Ryan didn’t know what other plans meant, and he certainly didn’t know what type of show the two of them would be going to. Was he supposed to dress fancy, or casual? He went with a sort of business casual, a light blue button-up and dark jeans. He combed his hair to one side, decided he didn’t like it, and combed it to the other side.

He left his apartment at ten before six, spotting Ray across the courtyard, sitting down on a makeshift stone chair. Before being seen, Ryan ducked back into the apartment and combed his hair the other way. After deeming himself decent, and eating far more breath mints than was acceptable, he made his way over to Ray.

Ray stood when he saw Ryan, dressed in only a t-shirt and jeans that fit him too loose on his hips. He looked Ryan up and down, a little smirk plastered to his mouth.

“You’re going to look like an idiot,” he scoffed.

“That’s not my fault!” Ryan cried, indignant. “I didn’t know where we were going!”

“I told you, a show.”

“See, the thing is, Ray, that doesn’t really help me out at all. What kind of show?” he asked.

“It’s a surprise,” Ray replied. He glanced at Ryan, raising an eyebrow. “You have a car, right? Because it’s a long walk.”

“Yeah, I have a car,” Ryan said.

The walk was tense, with the two of them matching paces. Ray seemed to struggle a little bit with Ryan’s long stride, but he determinedly kept up, chin held high. Their hands were so close, and Ryan wanted nothing more than to take Ray’s hand into his own and twine their fingers, but he resisted the urge. He tried to remind himself that it wasn’t a date, but it was hard. He felt as though there were a hundred pairs of eyes on him and Ray, and he glanced around once or twice, nervous at the thought that maybe everyone in the complex was watching them.

“You look like you’re about to jump out of your skin,” Ray said, breaking Ryan from his thoughts.

“Wha—no, I’m good,” Ryan assured. “I’ve just got a weird feeling,” he explained. It wasn’t enough of a bother to burden Ray with it, so he kept his mouth shut.

As soon as they had gotten into the car, Ray turned the radio to a station that Ryan didn’t recognize. It all sounded like dance music, usually things that he wouldn’t bother listening to. He didn’t find it appealing, but clearly Ray was having a good time, so Ryan didn’t change it.

Occasionally, Ray gave him pointers, and about twenty minutes later, they were outside of a large building. It looked similar to where Ray worked, but with the most subtle of changes. A line out the door and around the corner was typical, and it was more than difficult for Ryan to find parking.

“What sort of a place has a wait like this?” Ryan asked as they got out of the car.

“This place,” Ray said with a wicked grin, not helping Ryan at all. “C’mon,” he urged, grabbing Ryan’s hand and dragging him towards the entrance. With a quick smile at a few people—most likely bouncers—Ray managed to get through the entire line and into the building. A few other patrons were already there, one of them an incredibly familiar red-headed woman, but Ryan wasn’t paying attention.

He was staring at his and Ray’s hands, locked together with interlaced fingers. His heart was racing and he could hardly see through the haze that had begun to cloud his eyes. Ray sat him down, and then sat unnecessarily close to him, ordering the two of them drinks when he realized that Ryan wasn’t going to reply to anything.

“Hey, earth to Major Ryan,” Ray teased, waving his hand in front of Ryan’s face. A few other people had started to filter in, filling up the tables. He and Ray were in the front row, just a few inches from an ornate stage.

Ryan finally brought himself back to the real world, glancing at Ray. “Sorry, spaced out.”

Ray smiled, reaching over the table to fix a few strands of hair that had fallen loose from Ryan’s precise styling. “I noticed,” he said. “But now’s the time to pay attention, there’s only a few minutes until the show starts.”

Ryan nodded, and smiled back at Ray. Where his fingertips had brushed Ryan’s temple, he felt as though he had been shocked, little sparks of electricity buzzing just under his skin. Ray had ordered him a Diet Coke—clearly the kid knew him better than Ryan had ever expected—and he sipped at it delicately until suddenly, the lights cut out.

The entire place went dark, and then erupted in cheers as a spotlight came on a few moments later. Ryan hadn’t even heard the woman enter, as though there were any way to be delicate on her heels that must have been six inches high.

Her back was to the audience, and she was leaning against the back wall of the stage, pressing her ass further to the air and displaying the long, curved muscles of her legs. Even Ryan could appreciate the aesthetic she had. She wore a skin-tight, and heavily sequined one-piece-swimsuit-looking piece, that magnificently showed off the curve of her ass. Ryan swallowed hard, wondering if this really wasn’t another strip show.

Her long black hair cascaded down her back, and with a sudden turn, she was facing the audience. Strong cheekbones framed by alarming amounts of blush and a black and purple smoky eye. Ryan let his eyes travel, figuring that that’s what everyone else was doing, too. He furrowed his eyebrows at the sight of her tattoos, lacing from her knuckles across her chest. Ryan leaned forward, trying to make out the designs on her chest.

Ray had a shit-eating grin across his lips as he watched Ryan. “Figured it out yet?” he asked.

Something in Ryan’s brain was ticking. He had figured it out, in a sense, but he was having trouble making the connection.

Her crooked nose, the droop to her eyes, it all seemed too familiar.

“No…” he whispered, leaning back in his chair.

Ray, seated to his right, exploded into laughter that he tried to stifle under his hand.

“Is that…?”

“Hi, babies,” the girl called, a tiny microphone taped to her cheek so she could easily be heard throughout the club. “It’s good to see you again.”

Her eyes, a piercing blue, flickered to Ryan, and she winked. Ryan felt all of the blood rush from his face, leaving him as white as a sheet.

“I’ve got a few special guests here, tonight, and I hope you’ll all show them just as much love as I show them every day.” She put a hand on the dragon tattoo over her heart, holding steady eye contact with Ryan. “Especially since one of these babies is a virgin of the whole shebang.”

The crowd roared in cheers, but Ryan only wanted to sink lower in his chair. He wanted to be back at his apartment, with his normal life and his normal landlord.

“So let’s all show him exactly what Giovanni Alcoholidays has in store!”

“Giovanni Alcoholidays,” Ryan said, looking hollow and shrunken in the giant chair.

“This is going to be fun,” Ray said with a hearty laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really proud of Geoff's drag name ok


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bet you thought I forgot about this. Again. Can you believe it's almost Eleven Ways' one year birthday?  
> Also, the entire story is planned out now! Unless I decide to change it last minute, there will be 26 chapters to Eleven Ways!

“Ray, what exactly am I looking at right now?” Ryan asked, glancing over at his sniggering date. Date? Could he call Ray a date? He figured this was a date at first, but now he wasn’t sure if it wasn’t just some cruel joke that Ray was playing on him. “Is that—is that my landlord?”

“Only on weekdays,” Ray replied, cool as a cucumber. He was leaning back in the chair, arms crossed behind his head.

Ryan gave Ray an incredulous look, to which Ray scoffed.

“Don’t judge, man. We all need different jobs to get ourselves going around here,” Ray said. “Apparently being landlord and having a pilot wife doesn’t cover his mortgage.”

“Jackie’s a pilot?” Ryan asked, feeling dizzy from all of this new information that he was being hit with. Geoff—Giovanni—was still dancing around on stage, singing along, quite well Ryan might add, to some song that had been popular on the radio recently.

Ryan took the time to really admire who he was looking at. Geoff—Giovanni, he wasn’t sure if he was ever going to be able to grasp that by the end of the night—was so painted with makeup that he didn’t even look like the same person. Jackie, to the side of their table, was cheering and whooping along with the music, a beer in her hand.

Giovanni’s makeup was what Ryan would expect at a show like this, slathered with color and tainted by too much black eyeshadow. Although Ryan had to admit, the pink, glittery eyeshadow all over Geoff’s eyelids really brought out just how blue his eyes were. Even from so far away, Ryan could tell that he was more alive and awake than Ryan had ever seen him at the apartment complex.

It was a nice change of pace, to say the least.

And despite his best efforts, Ryan found himself suddenly sucked into the show. Giovanni wasn’t the only performer that night, and all of her colleagues were just as amazing as the she was. Admittedly, some of them were not as refined as Geoff, in his strange unrefined demeanor. He certainly played it heavy on the Alcoholidays, constantly carrying out a bottle of wine or Jack Daniel’s.

He barely even noticed how relaxed he had become in his chair, focusing on the acts and laughing and having fun, probably for the first time since he had moved into the RTApts. It was exactly what he needed, something to distract him from his thoughts. Ray was steadily inching closer to him—Ryan certainly noticed that—but not in a way that made him uncomfortable or flustered.

“You look like you’re having fun,” Ray said with a grin.

Ryan smiled and looked over at Ray, his light eyes meeting with Ray’s bigger, doe-eyed ones. Ryan felt his heart jump into his throat at Ray’s jovial expression, normally blank or like a cat that had caught a canary. He could feel the heat rushing to his face, and the tips of his ears were starting to burn as he looked Ray over with wide eyes.

Ray quirked an eyebrow at him, Ryan’s stare more obvious than he thought. “Earth to Ryan,” he teased. His expression fell back to a neutral one, and he sat back in his chair. 

“What? Is there something on my face, dude? You’re staring like I’ve got a humongo zit.”

Ryan shook his head, and followed Ray’s example to sit back in the chair. He was definitely blushing now, and there was no way that ray had missed it. Ryan snatched his Diet Coke and brought it to his lips, even though he wasn’t interested in a drink. He nibbled at the rim of the aluminum, needing something to take his mind off of that smile.

He tried to over analyze the situation, to figure out what exactly had made that smile warm him down to the very tips of his toes. It wasn’t a quiet warmth, either. Rather, it was like a roaring flame inside of his belly, growing until it consumed his entire body.

Out of the corners of his eyes, he spotted Ray staring this time. Ray gave him another smile, and Ryan’s world was spun out of orbit.

Yeah, something about that smile was magical.

They both forced their eyes away from the other, and looked back up on stage just in time for Giovanni Alcoholidays to make her reassurance. This time, she was carrying a giant burlap bag with a ridiculous dollar symbol painted on the front of it. Ryan could only assume that it was for some other gag or act, and that it must have been filled with Styrofoam.

“Time for the big bucks now, babies!” Giovanni called. She held the bag up high with one arm, and Ryan was slightly taken aback to find out that Geoff had shaved his armpits for this. With one hip propped out to the side farther than must have been comfortable, Giovanni loosened the drawstring of the bag, and showed the audience what the contents were.

To Ryan’s surprise, it was filled with money, and it was real as far as he could tell.

“Don’t get too excited,” Giovanni chided, moving the open bag this way and that to show the entire audience, and to make sure that each and every person got a good look at the contents. “For this to work out, I am going to need two volunteers.”

Ryan’s eyebrows shot to his hairline, but his stomach sank to his feet. He had an incredibly bad feeling. To his side, he could see Ray bursting into another one of those shit-eating grins. 

Giovanni looked around the audience, but Ryan knew what was coming. Her act was good, patrolling the edge of the stage and murmuring about this couple or that couple, deciding on who would be perfect for her plot. Ray was squirming in his seat, dying to get up on that stage already, but Ryan wished that he could vanish. There was a sort of curious excitement bubbling in him, but it wasn’t enough to quell the uneasy nervousness that he felt, as well.

She paused in front of Jackie, shooting her a wink and a click of her tongue, before twisting on her toe and stepping just in front of Ray and Ryan. She pointed down at them with a perfectly manicured nail, giving both a come hither motion.

“C’mon, Ryan!” Ray urged, jumping to his feet right away.

“I’m not so sure,” Ryan replied, avoiding eye contact. Around them, the rest of the patrons were beginning to clap and stop their feet in rhythm, trying to encourage him. He could have sworn that there was a spotlight on him for how blinded he felt, but there was nothing but the dim lighting of the club surrounding him.

He finally braved glancing up at Ray, who looked nothing but sincere. His hand was extended to Ryan, offering to help him get onto his feet.

“It’ll be fun,” Ray assured. “Just trust me.”

That smile returned, shooting waves of warmth and confidence through Ryan’s body. He wanted to trust Ray, but there was still a tinge of doubt. It wasn’t strong enough to deter him, and he grabbed Ray’s hand, hauled to his feet with an uproarious cheer spreading throughout the club.

Ray led Ryan to a set of stairs that went up onto the stage, although Ray ditched him to hop gracefully onto the stage with those long legs of him. He skipped up to Giovanni, who began talking again, but Ryan was too busy listening to the blood rushing in his ears to hear what it was that she was saying. It all sounded like someone talking through water, trying to get his attention, but the words were too garbled and far away to understand.

When he got to the center of the stage, Ray had been seated on a rickety wooden stool, the burlap bag of dollar bills clutched tightly in his arms. He was wearing a blindfold, tied tightly at the back of his head, although Ryan couldn’t fathom why.

As he stopped walking, suddenly the world came flooding back too fast, and he nearly fell over. Everything was so bright, but he could still look out over the audience and see each face, some not paying attention to him, some giving him their undivided attention and love. Giovanni to his left, grabbing his shoulder and reeling him in. She reeked of alcohol and perfume, and was somehow so incredibly _Geoff_ that Ryan forgot where he was, forgot what he was doing.

Giovanni walked over to Ray, spinning him around on the stool to face Ryan, who still had no idea what in the world was happening. He was smiling and tapping his feet against the rungs of the stool, holding onto the bag as though his life depended on it.

“A true expression of friendship!” Giovanni announced, bringing Ryan out of his muddy thoughts and into the real world. “Let’s see if big man over here can live up to the task!”

Giovanni slinked behind Ryan, surprisingly graceful in the heels that she was wearing. The audience members were roaring with laughter and sniggers, occasionally cheering Ryan on to get him to move.

Ryan looked to Geoff for help, pleading with his landlord to save him from his insistent alter ego. “What am I doing?” Ryan asked, the color draining from his face.

Giovanni laughed it off, getting the audience to do the same with her. “Seems as though he’s had a few too many drinks tonight, huh, folks?” she called, and the audience all jeered in agreement. “I’ll explain the rules one more time—they’re fairly simple! All you have to do is kiss your blindfolded friend, and the money is yours! The hotter the kiss, the more cash you get,” she added, as an afterthought more than anything else.

Ryan’s world went dead silent again as he looked back at Ray. Kiss him for money? How hard could that be? Ryan swallowed around the lump in his throat, and closed the short distance between he and Ray until Ryan’s thighs were touching Ray’s bent knees. He’d kissed Ray before—kissed him many times actually. It shouldn’t have been anything new, but Ryan’s knees were knocking together, and he couldn’t get enough air into his lungs.

He leaned over, his hands going to Ray’s cheeks. Ryan could see the mirth in Ray’s eyes, even if he couldn’t actually see Ray’s eyes. It was an ominous feeling, knowing that Ray had said to trust him, but the whole situation seemed too sketchy. He leaned forward, the tips of their noses brushing, and their breaths mingling between them.

“You gonna kiss me or what?” Ray whispered, almost too quiet for Ryan to hear.

Something inside of Ryan snapped like a piano wire.

He yanked his hands away from Ray, and spun in the other direction so fast that the momentum nearly landed him flat on his face. He struggled with his slender legs, trying his hardest to get them to cooperate and work the way that they were meant to.

“Ryan!” Ray called behind him, worry tainting his usually-jovial voice. “Ryan, come back! It was just a game!”

But Ryan couldn’t hear him. He was descending down the stairs and already at the second exit, refusing to use the front entrance to where there would be people and it would be crowded.

The temperature raised ten degrees from inside of the building, and it did nothing to make Ryan feel any less sick. His entire world was spinning, and the meager can of Diet Coke was swirling nauseatingly in his stomach. Ryan collapsed against the brick wall of the building opposite of the club, slumping and holding his head in his hand.

His long fingers tangled in his hair, pulling hard and trying to remind himself that this was real. He had just messed everything up, and there was no way that Ray would forgive him at this rate. Why had he gotten so nervous? He couldn’t even answer the question for himself as he tried to sort through his thoughts. Everything was too jumbled, the adrenaline rushing through his body turning his blood cold rather than hot.

“Ryan?” Ray’s voice came from nowhere, followed by the click of the exit door shutting. “Are you okay, man?” he asked. He stayed where he was, not wanting to risk getting closer and stressing Ryan out more.

“No,” Ryan replied. Any sort of emotion that had been bubbling in him deflated at the sound of Ray’s voice. “I’m not okay.”

“What’s wrong?” Ray asked. He finally took a step forward, the toes of his shoes entering Ryan’s line of sight. “I should have asked you before putting you in that situation,” he said. “I fucked up.” A grimace. “Hope you don’t hate me.”

Ryan shook his head at Ray’s words, trying to find his own words. Trying to find the right words. “I don’t hate you,” he said. Ray let out a huge sigh of relief. “And it’s not that.”

“Then what’s wrong?” Ray pressed. “Bad can of Diet Coke?”

Ryan appreciated his attempt to lighten the mood, but it really wasn’t doing anything to help the situation. “I didn’t want it to happen like that,” he said, hoping it made sense.

Ray’s lack of response told him that it didn’t.

“I’ve kissed you before and then it was okay, but it wasn’t okay on stage… Wasn’t okay with all of those people watching.”

“Alright, so you’re not an exhibitionist, I’ll keep that in mind,” Ray said. Ryan could hear the grin in his voice, he really was trying his hardest to lighten the situation for Ryan. It wasn’t often that he lost his cool like that, and especially not in front of other people.

“It’s not that, Ray,” Ryan repeated. “I didn’t… It didn’t feel right. Kissing you for some stupid reward.” Ryan let his hands drop from his hair, landing against his jeans with a muted smack. “If I kiss you, I don’t want it to be for money. And I don’t want it to be because I paid you to do it. If I kiss you, Ray, I want it to be because I _wanted_ to kiss you. I don’t want to have to kiss you, I don’t want there to be some stupid incentive.”

“Alright, big guy,” Ray teased, reaching out and putting a hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “It was just a game, why are you taking it so seriously?”

Ryan forced his eyes up to lock with Ray’s. They shared a beat of silence, eyes hooked on each other’s.

“Because I love you, Ray.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really am sorry about the huge hiatuses that Eleven Ways has been taking (and all of my other stories too). At one point during writing this I was managing three jobs, two full time and one part time, and going to the local community college full time. Needless to say there was way too much on my plate, but haha I've quit two of the jobs and the third's season ended about a week ago.  
> 


	15. Chapter 15

Ray knew exactly what he was getting into, he’d seen Ryan naked before, but that didn’t stop everything from being so much different than the first time. Ryan was just as shy—if not more so—than the time at the club, without even a touch of alcohol to steel his nerves.

Ray was the first to break the reverie that started as soon as they got back to Ryan’s place, hands going to his cheeks and pulling him in for a kiss. The touch was like lightning, both knowing exactly where to prod with their tongues. Ray opened his mouth for Ryan, letting Ryan gain the upper hand for a few moments. Despite being older, Ryan seemed to have little to no experience when it came to these sorts of things. His hands hovered nervously inches from Ray’s sides, as if touching Ray would break him.

Ray grabbed Ryan’s hands, guiding them to his waist, and that seemed to kick Ryan into gear. He tightened his hands on Ray, hard enough that Ray was certain he would have a plethora of little bruises in the morning.

With stumbling feet, trapped in his horrid old-man shoes, Ryan brought Ray towards his bedroom. Their kiss was severed in Ryan’s clumsiness, although Ray couldn’t say that his feet were cooperating at one hundred percent. Ryan let out a little airy laugh, the kind that sounded more like he was pulling in air, rather than exhaling.

“You’re a fucking nerd,” Ray scoffed, unable to help the little grin that spread across his lips.

_“Did they slip you something in your Coke, man?” Ray asked with a laugh._

_He didn’t know how Ryan had done it, but he had managed to make Ray’s entire body go cold with just a few words. It was a feeling similar to fear; like going on stage before he had fully prepared himself for just what it was that he was going to do. Every drop of blood in his body turned to ice, rooting him to the spot. All that was left were witty comments, but he knew that they couldn’t defend him forever._

_“Ray, this isn’t a joke,” Ryan muttered, a twinge of hurt passing over his features._

_“I didn’t mean it as a joke,” Ray replied. “But don’t you think this is a little sudden? I mean, jeez, declaring your love for me in a dirty alleyway?” Ray looked around, examining their surroundings. “It’s about as romantic as it can get, hats off to you,” he complimented._

_“I don’t like your facetious tone,” Ryan scoffed. “Ray, seriously—I meant what I said.”_

_“I know you did, but I don’t know what you were expecting!” Ray argued. He felt like a mouse, trapped in a corner by a cat. If there had been anyone around to see Ryan’s outburst, he would have passed out in the blink of an eye. “What? I’m gonna declare my love for you? Gonna drop down on my knees and blow you? I mean, I will, I’ve got no objections to that.”_

_“I wasn’t hoping for any of that,” Ryan said, a deep blush staining his face. He stepped forward, closing the small distance between himself and Ray. He put a hand on Ray’s cheek, holding him close. “I just wanted you to know.”_

_“Now I know,” Ray agreed. “And where are you going to go from here?”_

 

Ray, despite knowing that no one else would be coming into Ryan’s apartment, kicked the bedroom door shut behind them as they entered. He always felt more comfortable when he had a strong sense of privacy, and securely shut doors and windows were the first way to achieve that.

His hands couldn’t stop roaming, trailing over Ryan’s broad chest and his strong arms, down to his narrow waist. He had the body of a model, and if he weren’t such an awkward person, Ray might have suggested it to him. A wicked grin broke out on his face as he thought about Ryan working at the club. He would certainly be an excellent addition to their staff.

“Why are you looking like you’re going to eat me?” Ryan asked, a nervous tone creeping into his voice.

Ray glanced up at Ryan, wiping the smile off his face. He leaned up, one hand on Ryan’s cheek, and kissed him again. “No reason,” he assured. “You should learn to relax,” he suggested.

“I am relaxed,” Ryan objected.

Ray knew that it was a blatant lie, but he didn’t call Ryan out. If he wanted to believe that his voice wasn’t cracking, he wasn’t avoiding eye contact, and that he tensed up whenever Ray touched him, that wasn’t Ray’s business.

“If you want to, we don’t have to continue,” Ray said. They were only a foot from the bed, and he so desperately wanted to continue, but Ryan’s needs came before his. “I’m cool with chilling on the couch and watching bad movies,” he offered, keeping his voice as nonchalant as possible. He didn’t want Ryan to hear the need in his voice, as if seeing it in his actions wasn’t obvious enough.

Ryan hesitated, and Ray was ready to turn back and take up a position on the couch. When Ryan stepped away, he was certain that his fate was sealed—he had really been looking forward to getting a decent lay—but then Ryan pulled his shirt up over his head. He tossed it to the floor and hunched his shoulders, but that didn’t stop Ray.

He practically surged forward, grabbing appreciatively at Ryan’s chest and mouthing at his collarbone. Ryan’s body was the stuff of dreams, and Ray was going to make sure that Ryan knew it. Ryan’s hands were pawing through his hair, and Ray could tell that he was still unsure of himself, but he would put an end to that rather quickly.

In one fluid motion, Ray dropped to his knees.

 

_Ray barely had time to regret just how scathing his words had been before Ryan grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled Ray close. Ryan put their lips together, about as awkwardly as it could get. He tried to pull back from the violent action at the last second, leaving him with a grimace and Ray with raised eyebrows._

_Ryan pulled away after a moment of realizing just how bad it was, a crimson blush staining his cheeks. Ray stood back to admire just how cute Ryan was—something he thought he would never say about a grown man—and then leaned up to kiss him._

_That time, despite Ryan’s unpreparedness, their lips slotted together perfectly. Ray gently nibbled and sucked at Ryan’s lips, trying to get him out of his trance. It was all very charming, but he would much rather prefer to be actually kissing Ryan. When Ryan finally caught on, it was as if a fire was ignited between them._

_Ryan grabbed Ray by the shoulders and pinned him against the wall of the building, keeping him there with his height and weight advantage. Ray barely had the room to pull back, and Ryan didn’t give him the chance to think._

_When he was denied Ray’s mouth, Ryan moved his lips down and across Ray’s jaw. He trailed a line of bites and nips until he was at Ray’s neck. He laved at his chosen spot with his tongue, scraping his teeth lightly along Ray’s skin._

_Ray’s hands were on Ryan’s shoulders, ready to push him away at any given moment, but he found that he didn’t have the strength to do anything. A soft groan escaped him when Ryan began to suck at his skin, careful not to leave a mark that was too dark and would get Ray in trouble at work the next day._

_“Where did this come from?” Ray asked, trying to tease Ryan and break the serious mood that had settled over him._

_Ray wasn’t sure if he had said the right thing or not, because Ryan stopped moving altogether._

 

Ray did his best to be romantic as he unfastened Ryan’s belt buckle and yanked the cheap leather free of the belt hooks on his pants. He really did try to be romantic, even as he flung the belt aside and heard the buckle clang against the wall with a noise that sounded like it was close to leaving a dent. Ryan’s eyes darted in its general direction for the briefest of seconds, but his attention was forced back to Ray when he heard his zipper being undone.

He didn’t even know when Ray had gotten it undone.  
Ray prided himself in that.

He was as unceremonious with the rest of it as he was with taking Ryan’s belt off. In one fluid movement, while Ryan was trying to toe out of his shoes, Ray had his ill-fitted jeans and incredibly well-fitted boxers around his ankles.

After waiting so long to be able to do this with Ryan again, he didn’t exactly have the time of day to spend it fawning over Ryan, otherwise he would have gladly done it. Teased him until he couldn’t see straight, but for the time being, Ray shucked the thought from his mind.

As he took the base of Ryan’s half-hard cock in his hand, he was reminded of the first night they met. With a bit of a smile on his face he lowered his head, and darted his tongue out to lave the head of Ryan’s erection, lapping at it until it stood proud and full.

 

_“Ray, I’m not joking,” Ryan said. He moved his hands to Ray’s hips, his thumbs gently caressing his slightly protruding hipbones. “I’ve known—I think—since the first time that I met you. You were beautiful and so kind, and you didn’t make fun of me.”_

_“Sounds like it’s a first for you,” Ray teased, still trying his best to lighten the mood._

_Ryan wasn’t having anything of it. He shot Ray a serious look, his blue eyes cloudy underneath furrowed eyebrows. “I don’t want you to think that this is a joke,” he repeated. “I mean every single word that I’m saying.”_

_Ray hesitated. His heart was hammering in his chest, threatening to break free at any moment and hit the ground running. He didn’t know what he was feeling. Was he scared? Scared of what? Ray glanced away, unable to hold Ryan’s intense gaze for any longer._

_Ryan, thinking he had done something wrong, backed off. He stepped away from Ray, his back hitting the other wall of the alley with a dull thud. He held his face in his hands, much like when Ray had first seen him._

_“Prove it,” Ray said._

_He wasn’t sure what he was thinking, or why he had said the words aloud. All he knew was that when he looked back up at Ryan, he was met with a fiery look._

 

To think that two simple words had gotten him to this point. Ray let his eyes fall shut, lashes brushing against his cheeks as he slipped the head of Ryan’s cock into his mouth. Already, Ryan’s legs were trembling. Ray didn’t recall from their last encounter if Ryan had been this sensitive, but he wasn’t going to question it. He pulled off for a second, pressing a corny kiss to the tip before taking it back into his mouth.

Ray bobbed his head expertly, taking more and more of Ryan into his mouth as he worked. At the end of a torturous minute, both for Ryan and for Ray—who was straining so uncomfortably against the zipper of his pants, he was certain they were going to pop open at any moment like some impossible porno—Ray had nearly all of Ryan in his mouth.

He didn’t want to kill his voice, not so early in their evening, so he refrained from taking all of it into his mouth and pressing the head up against the back of his throat. What he couldn’t fit into his mouth, his hand made up for. With slow movements, Ray began to bob his head once more, cheeks hollowing out as he swallowed around Ryan.

With a customer, Ray would normally rush. He would do his best to try and get through it as fast as possible while still giving the guy what he wanted. It was his job, what he needed to do to pay his rent, make sure he could buy groceries, and maybe a little extra on the side.

With Ryan, he took his time. He wanted this to last for as long as he possibly could. Wanted to make sure that Ryan would come back to him, whether he realized it or not.

Ray finally settled on a pace that suited them both, Ryan squirming in an attempt to stay still. With each movement, Ray’s lips and hand met halfway, and occasionally he bumped his nose against his knuckle, but it wasn’t anything that he couldn’t work through. Ryan, at some point, had gotten his fingers into Ray’s hair, which was a little wild from going just a bit too long without a haircut. He barely even noticed Ryan stammering for him to stop, pulling back and stumbling until his knees hit the back of the bed. He ungracefully fell onto it, sitting up and watching Ray, who was more than a little offended that Ryan had made him stop.

“Did I do something wrong?” Ray asked, thinking of how familiar the situation was.

“N-no, I,” Ryan hesitated, the words dangling a few inches from his mouth. “What about you?” is what he finally said, staring at Ray with those big, round doe eyes.

Ray couldn’t help but smile, even though he felt like an idiot. He was sitting on Ryan’s floor on his knees, and certainly his erection was obvious by that point, even through his underwear and pants—smiling in spite of himself.

“You are one in a million, Ryan Haywood,” he said, voice soft even to his own ears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The description in the outline for this chapter: "this is the chapter in which they finally fuck".


	16. Chapter 16

Ray knew that Ryan must have felt weird, too, at least a little bit. He was sitting on his bed, legs spread like a common whore, erection standing proud and dripping with saliva and little beads of come. Ray wasted no more time, and stood up. The first to go was his shirt, followed by everything else. He was about as romantic with that as he had been with everything else, but Ryan’s eyes were glued to him as if he were on stage.

Ray walked over to Ryan, trying to seem like he wasn’t rushing, and put a leg on either side of Ryan’s lap. His hands went right to Ryan’s cheeks, and without a care in the world about where his mouth had just been, he pressed their lips together, and then pushed his tongue into Ryan’s mouth when his jaw opened just a smidgen. It was intoxicating, better than any drug, and as hot as fire.

Ray barely noticed when Ryan grabbed him by the shoulders, and flipped their position. Like that, it was easier for him to get his tongue into Ray’s mouth, exploring everywhere and mapping it out. Ray was willing and reciprocating, and it was even better than the time at the club.

With one hand, Ray reached between them, and took Ryan’s erection in hand, giving a few slow strokes and making sure to swipe his thumb over the slit, smearing the precome that was there. He had no doubts that Ryan would have gladly continued their whole night with just kissing, but it wasn't exactly what Ray was looking for.

Ryan pulled away from the kiss in a flash with a deep gasp, his head dropping as he tried to keep himself from bucking into Ray’s hand.

Ray, grinning under him, tilted his head back and pressed a kiss against Ryan’s lips.

“Don’t get carried away now,” he chided.

Ryan’s cheeks were flushed a dark red, and he could barely respond with the way that Ray was moving his hand. There was only the slightest hint of a nod, and that got Ray to let go of Ryan. He propped himself up on one elbow, watching as Ryan stumbled over to a messy bedside table, and began to root around through it.

Lazily, Ray began to stroke himself, tucking his lower lip between his teeth as he watched Ryan. He wasn’t going to lie; this was an excellent perch for him. Ryan’s ass was great when he was bent over like that. He refused to comment, falling onto his back once more and stroking himself languidly.

What he wouldn’t give for a decent lay for the first time in a while. Ray let out a soft sight, brushing his fingers over all of the right places, nearly making himself squirm. He peeked an eye open at Ryan when he heard him stop moving, and let out a breathy laugh when he caught the older man looking away very suddenly. 

“Don’t stand there gawking,” Ray teased, eyes falling shut once more.

Ryan, his heart pounding in his chest, complied. Ray took his hand off of himself for a few moments, just long enough to move up on the bed so that Ryan could comfortably fit as well. He propped his knees up, and Ryan settled between them.

He already looked so embarrassed, Ray almost felt bad for him. He gave Ryan a warm smile, and raised an eyebrow at him.

“Need a little help?” he asked.

Ryan shook his head adamantly. He popped the cap off his running-very-low bottle of lube, and squirted half of the last of it onto his fingers. With Ryan acting so serious, Ray really had to work to keep a straight face at the awful squelching noise the bottle made.

“I’m not a virgin, Ray,” Ryan said.

“Oh, believe me, I know you’re not,” Ray shot back.

Ryan gave Ray another look, leaning forward on his clean hand to kiss Ray again. Their lips slid together softly, little nibbles placed here and there along each other’s lips.

“Are you ready?” Ryan asked, barely pulling back from the kiss. Ray could have sworn that he felt Ryan’s lips move against his as he spoke. 

“Since day one, baby,” Ray replied.

Ryan chuckled under his breath, airy and almost sounding like a dying goose—but Ray couldn’t help but think that it was cute. He breathed out slowly, relaxing as much as he could for the situation that he was in and tried not to tense up when Ryan began working his first finger into him. No matter how used to it he was, the first few minutes were always uncomfortable.

At least Ryan was gentle, nothing like the pigs that Ray had grown accustomed to. Ryan worked his finger in and out of Ray slowly, distracting his neighbor with pecks and kisses along his jawline and back towards his ear. He nibbled at Ray’s earlobe as he pressed a second finger in. He could tell that Ray had relaxed, soft sighs and gasps coming from him as Ryan continued to work him open.

Ray, much better after the initial penetration, wrapped his arms around Ryan’s shoulders, turning to nuzzle against him and kiss his cheek. “I’m not made of glass, you know,” he said.

“But I don’t want to hurt you,” Ryan argued. “I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I did that.”

“You won’t,” Ray assured.

Ryan, though hesitant still, pressed a third finger into Ray. He scrunched his nose, and Ryan nearly drew back right then, but it didn’t take long for Ray to relax again.

Within moments, Ray was back to whimpering and trying to get as close to Ryan as he possibly could. Holding him wasn’t enough, and he mouthed along Ryan’s cheek and down his neck, returning the favor with hot, open-mouthed kisses.

It was almost too much for Ray, but he couldn’t place exactly why. He’d never had this kind of reaction before to something as simple as this. His whole body felt like a puddle of warmth, starting in his gut and spreading outward.

“I’m ready,” he whispered, once again unsure if the words had actually left his mouth.

His clue that they had was Ryan pulling his fingers out of Ray. He sat back on his heels, finding a stray towel from some other day on the floor and quickly wiping his hand. He was biting at his lip, and Ray immediately knew that there was something on his mind.

“Anything wrong?” he asked, more out of breath than he would ever admit. Ray sat up, propping himself against the wall for now.

“I don’t have a condom on me,” Ryan admitted, that same cherry flush on his cheeks.

“I trust you,” Ray said. “I figure you don’t have any horrible diseases?” he asked, knowing very well that Ryan didn’t. He was too meticulous to let something like that happen.

“I don’t, but it’s a safety precaution, Ray,” Ryan scolded.

That broke the mood for Ray immediately. He threw his head back and laughed, noticing as Ryan grew more and more flustered.

“Don’t act so serious, I’ve got it covered, Ryan,” Ray said. He sat up all the way, gesturing at his pants. “Got a few in my back pocket.”

“Did you prepare for this ahead of time?” Ryan asked, getting up and grabbing Ray’s pants. He dug out one of the foil packages from one of the pockets, and tossed it on the bed. He was quick to follow, once again settling himself between Ray’s knees.

“Comes with the job,” Ray said. “Who knows where you’ll find those in my place,” he explained. When Ryan returned he stretched out on his back, unable to tear his gaze away as Ryan tore the foil and rolled the condom onto himself. He followed with generous amounts of lube, not pausing in his motions until he had the tip of his erection against Ray’s entrance.

“Are you sure about this?” Ryan asked.

His voice was laced with hesitancy, it almost hurt Ray to hear it. “Yes I’m sure,” he said.

“And you won’t go and forget about me tomorrow morning?” he asked.

Ray frowned. “I won’t, but you have to understand the difference between my personal life and my work life,” he said.

“I know the difference,” Ryan said.

“Then what are you waiting for?” Ray asked.

The truth was, neither of them really knew what they were waiting for. But when Ryan dipped down and stole Ray’s lips in another one of those searing kisses, he paired it by pushing inside of Ray, one hand on the base of his dick to help guide himself.

Ray sucked in a deep breath when Ryan pushed into him, having to break away from the kiss. His mouth hung open, gasping desperately for air. He hadn’t had to do this for a while, and he knew he was going to be a bit sore in the morning but it was worth it if he was with Ryan.

“How are you feeling?” Ryan rasped, his voice gone far huskier than Ray was used to hearing.

Ray, doing his best not to dig his nails into Ryan’s shoulders and leave him with some nasty cuts, cracked an eye open at him. “Just great,” he replied, his own voice strained.

“Do you want-“ 

“Don’t you dare ask if I want to stop, Ryan,” Ray grumbled. He began to move his hips—as much as he could while he was laying down. If Ryan wasn’t going to move, he was going to move for him. The reaction was immediate, Ryan beginning to move and follow Ray’s lead. “Just move,” he said, hands roaming down to Ryan’s hip bones to try and encourage him.

For a while, Ryan just watched him. Then he leaned down and stole Ray’s mouth in a kiss. He was gentle about it at first, as Ryan was with everything, but then it turned into something that neither of them could describe. Ray was clinging tightly to Ryan’s shoulders, desperate not to let him get away.

Ray, unable to stop himself, continued to move his hips in slow circles, using everything that he had ever learned on Ryan. While he wasn’t a customer, he was still just a man, and Ray knew exactly what to do to make him fall to pieces.

Ryan broke the kiss with a gasp, his head dipping low so that he could press his forehead against Ray’s. “I’ve never felt like this before,” he whispered, his voice hoarse and gravelly. It was a tone that Ray had never heard from him before, and it chilled him to his core.

“Then you’ve never had good sex before,” Ray countered.

That seemed to encourage Ryan again, and he resumed his own rhythm that matched with Ray’s, rather than letting Ray do all of the work. Ray couldn’t help but throw his head back with a gasp, liquid fire pooling deep in his gut and spreading outwards in his body.

“Oh, _God_ , Ryan,” he moaned, pulling Ryan in for another sloppy kiss.

Their tongues met and it was far less coordinated than any of their other kisses that night, but it didn’t matter to either of them. Ryan was smiling—Ray wanted to smack that dumb smile off his face—but in the dim light it silhouetted all of his best features. Which, of course, were all of his features.

“Maybe—maybe you’ve never had good sex either,” Ryan teased.

Ray would have groaned and smacked Ryan upside the head, but his breath was stolen when a sudden jolt of pleasure coursed through his entire body. His immediate reaction was to dig his nails deep into Ryan’s skin, but if he hurt him, Ryan said nothing about it.

“Holy shit,” he panted, throwing his head back against the pillows. His whole body was moving without his permission, doing things that he had never done before unless it was just him putting on a show. With each _incredibly_ well-put push forward from Ryan, his hips tugged forward, every part of his body wanting to be closer to Ryan.

He felt almost pathetic, whines and whimpers escaping him left and right. When he could—when he wasn’t searching fruitlessly for his own scattered breath—Ryan would kiss him and steal the sounds right from his throat, all with that gentle smile.

“You’re gonna— _ah_ —kill me at this rate,” Ray gasped, hands traveling up and down Ryan’s body. He was becoming familiar with all of his sensitive places, which ones made his breath hitch or his eyes gleam in a beautiful way.

Ray’s entire body was as tight as a coil, each muscle tensing and tensing until he was certain that he was going to be left with horrible pains the next morning. It wasn’t that Ryan was bad—no, he was _far_ from it, if Ray’s obscene moans were anything to go by. Ray had never once felt so close to a person, knowing that right then, with him and Ryan, it actually meant something.

“ _Ff_ uck,” Ryan hissed, his brow furrowed and his face twisted into harsh lines. His hips had begun to stutter, signaling his end. He reached between their sweat-slick bodies and wrapped his hand around Ray’s achingly hard cock, left unattended to for so long, and began to stroke him erratically. “C’mon, baby,” he muttered, nuzzling against Ray’s neck and biting at the delicate skin.

Ray, his body pushed nearly to the limit, tensed up as he finally came, all of Ryan’s ministrations piling on top of the other. His hips spasmed without his control, all of his muscles acting on their own accord, rather than listening to his fried brain.

Ryan was soon to follow, but Ray was dazed enough in the afterglow of it all that he barely noticed—aside from the mild discomfort—as Ryan pulled out and temporarily left his side. He returned to Ray, still sweaty and damp and smelling like sex, and flopped onto the bed behind Ray.

Ray turned onto his side facing Ryan, bringing them as close as possible. It was a warm Austin night, and thankfully they didn’t need the sheets or blankets, because neither of them had enough energy to reach down and grab them.

The reverent silence stretched on between them for long enough that they both began to yawn.

“Ryan?” Ray murmured, nuzzling closer to Ryan now that most of the sweat on his body had dried. _Ew gross he was going to need to shower as soon as he woke up_.

Ryan’s heart leaped into his throat, his mind playing out ten million different scenarios. “What is it, Ray?” he asked.

Ray waited a while before responding, his exhausted brain taking much longer to form his ideas into words and transfer those words to his mouth.

“Don’t ever call me baby again,” he said.

Ryan laughed, the gravelly kind deep in his chest that Ray loved. “Spur of the moment. Won’t happen again.”

A wide smile wormed its way onto Ray’s face.

He drifted off to sleep, comfortable and safe tucked up against Ryan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couldn't sleep even though I have class tomorrow morning. Please accept this midnight chapter.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank everyone who's going to come back and read this chapter, and who still has hope that I will finish this damn thing. I also want to thank anyone new who's just gotten to this story. I greatly appreciate all of the support, you have no idea.
> 
> I think a big problem I was having was that I was trying to take Eleven Ways down a more serious path, but let's be real this is the dumbest shit I've ever written and you all seem to love it. I get a lot of comments that it's funny and emotional -in a good way- and a joy to read, and I've been writing it for fun, too. As soon as I was like yeah let's get some drama in here (Further down the plot), I lost pretty much all will to write. That being said, we are back on course for this to be dumb and barely serious at all. It was always meant to be lighthearted and silly in the first place.
> 
> To add to my collection: another dumb chapter for you lovely people. It's a little short, but the next chapter will be out very soon!
> 
>  
> 
> _I promise_

Ryan liked to think that he had good luck. And recently, his luck had been better than ever. He confessed to the guy that he liked, and as far as he could tell, Ray liked him back. It seemed as though their recent interaction had been a little too passionate to just be a passing fling.

When it came to strolling up to a convenience store close to one in the morning, Ryan was certain that his luck had run out.

First task, finding the biggest cup for slushies and filling it with the best cherry slushy ever made, according to Ray’s opinion. He was operating under the assumption that Ray was far more educated than he was when it came to gas station slushies. Ryan pulled down the nozzle of the cherry slushy, and watched as it filled the cup.

_How in the hell did I get myself into this situation?_

He woke up not even an hour earlier to Ray nuzzling against his neck, licking along his pulse and in general being _very_ handsy. Not that Ryan minded. His warm body pressed against Ryan’s—it was clear that he had been awake for a while and had been trying to get Ryan awake for just as long. Ryan couldn’t help the sleepy grin that spread across his face at the feeling of Ray’s breath, albeit horrible-smelling with sleep, ghosting across his ears and the back of his neck.

“Hey,” Ray croaked, his hands creeping with tickling nails up to Ryan’s chest. “Look who finally woke up.”

“How long have you been trying?” Ryan asked.

“For about four years now,” Ray replied. With a little tugging, he was able to get Ryan onto his back.

Ray smiled down at him, and Ryan felt his heart flip. Ray had this look on his face, like he could have easily eaten Ryan whole.

And then his stomach growled.

A dramatic sigh bursting from his lips, Ray flopped onto his back and groaned. “Goddamn I’m fucking hungry,” he muttered.

The mood completely gone, Ryan sat up on his elbows, and looked Ray over. He wouldn’t doubt that Ray was one of those people who was hungry all the time. He was skin and bones, and where there wasn’t a good layer of muscle, Ryan would have been concerned for his health.

“You want something from the kitchen?” Ryan offered.

Ray shrugged, and threw his forearm over his eyes. “What’cha got?” he asked.

“Maybe some leftover pizza,” Ryan said.

Ray paused, and narrowed his eyes at Ryan. “Is that the same pizza I ate a few days ago? That was _already_ a few days old?” he pressed, tone scrutinizing.

“No, you ate all of that pizza,” Ryan argued. “Remember? I brought it over and you were as high as a kite.”

“Ryan, that happens a lot,” Ray scoffed. “Just go and get something. You can’t feed your date two-week-old pizza. Jeez, talk about unromantic as fuck.”

So Ryan got up, and pulled on whatever pair of underwear and sweatpants were closest to him. The whole time he could feel Ray watching him, like that day when he was first moving in. Ryan didn’t glance over his shoulder, figuring he wasn’t going to give Ray the satisfaction of making him squirm.

“What do you want?” Ryan asked, turning back around after getting his pants on. He shrugged on a t-shirt next, one that was just a little bit too small for him to wear comfortably. “There’s probably still some fast food places open.”

“You know the gas station like a three-minute walk from here?” Ray suggested. “The place that’s always got a drunk hobo with a dog sitting on the corner?”

“Yeah,” Ryan agreed. He ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it out of his face in a motion that was more out of habit than necessity.

“I want one of the cherry slushies,” Ray said, leaving no room for objection in his tone. “Oh! And some fucking Malta. That’s the only place I know around here that sells it.”

“Do you want some actual food?”

“Like a bag of chips?” 

“Remind me how you stay so skinny,” Ryan groaned. If he ate the way that Ray did, there would be no way he could keep that figure. Of course, Ray did work out far more than he did. 

Ryan had been to the convenience store slash gas station once or twice, but after tonight he was certain that he was not going to return for a very long time. In fact, he would be just fine living out his life and never returning there again. There was no way that he would be able to face a single one of the employees again. Even though there was only one guy running the counter at the time, Ryan couldn’t bring himself to look up.

So instead of looking up, he placed a gigantic cherry slushy on the counter. He wished it was all that he had to be embarrassed about. Unfortunately, the slushy was not his only purchase for the night. Ryan placed the rest of his items on the counter and began digging around in his pockets, looking for his wallet. He was praying that the employee wouldn’t bother to really look at anything he was buying, and instead just ring him up with an air of disdain. Ryan would take disdain any day over curiosity.

“So…” the employee began, and Ryan knew that he was screwed. He dared to glance up at the man, and got a good overview of him from just a second. Ryan couldn't handle anymore eye contact than was necessary. He had a full beard, and _goddamn_ was he tall. “Got a good night ahead of you planned?” he asked, as he started scanning a rather large handful of condoms. One. By. One. Ryan could hear the smirk in his voice, could practically see it in the dim reflection of his chromed nose ring.

“Yep,” Ryan said, tight-lipped and still refusing to take another chance at eye contact.

_Beep_. Another condom rung up. Ryan wasn’t thinking, he just grabbed as many as he possibly could. For all he knew, Ray had the libido of a God, and there was no way that Ryan was going to say no to him.

“He must be hot,” the guy continued. He was just trying to make conversation, but the comment set Ryan even more on edge than it should have. So off-put by the comment, Ryan didn't take notice that the man suggested 'he' instead of 'she' like someone else might have.

“Something like that,” Ryan agreed, trying to dissuade the conversation without being overly rude. At least Ryan knew that his night was going to be far better than _this_ guy's.

At last, _finally_ , the guy at the register was done scanning the condoms, but now he just had to take his dear sweet time bagging them up, too. And... was the bastard giggling? He was definitely giggling. Ryan looked over as the doorbell chimed a few musical notes, and another shady character trudged into the store. Ryan supposed that, this late at night, everyone looked very shady. But a tall guy hunched over in a gigantic hoodie? He was _certainly_ shady. Better to just get out while he still had the chance. 

“Is the slushy a sex thing?” the cashier asked as he scanned three travel-size bottles of lube, shit-eating grin plastered across his face.

A wire in Ryan snapped.

“It’s not a fucking sex thing!” he yelled, indignant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man so a lot has gone down recently- a lot of shit with jobs, had a surgery, more shit with college/university, a fuckin car crash- and I'm sorry that it has literally been five months since you've seen anything from me, or from this story. I'm not particularly proud of that, and I hope to change it. At least we know that I'm good at updating at midnight.


End file.
